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THE PROSPECTOR’S 
FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR: 


A PRRCTICflL MANUAL 

OF 

MINERALS, MINES AND MINING. 


Illustrated by 171 Engravings, Second Edition, Revised 
and Enlarged, 393 Pages, 8vo, Price $4.50. 


THE PROSPECTOR’S 


FIELD-BOOK ANI) GUIDE 

IN THE 


SEARCH FOR AND THE EASY DETERMINATION OF 
ORES AND OTHER USEFUL MINERALS. 


Prof. H. S, OSBORN, LL.D., 

AUTHOR OF “THE METALLURGY OF IRON AND STEEL,” “ A PRACTICAL MANUAL 
OF MINERALS, MINES, AND MINING.” 


ILLUSTRATED BY FIFTY-EIGHT ENGRAVINGS. 


FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. 


Q 


PHILADELPHIA: 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO., 

INDUSTRIAL PUBLISHERS, BOOKSELLERS AND IMPORTERS, 

810 WALNUT STREET. 


1899. 


-r^m 0 

0<S 

. 0 *£ 


32450 


Copyright by 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO. 
1899. 

TWO COP IF. & *< fc.CLlVc.0. 




WICKERSHAM PRINTING COMPANY, 
53 and 55 North Queen Street, 
Lancaster, Pa., U. S. A. 


c\aacu*v v'feAa, 


PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 


The gratifying success of the third edition of The 
Prospector’s Field-Book and Guide, unmistak¬ 
ably indicating the firm hold which it has on the 
confidence of Prospectors, has rendered necessary 
the preparation of this, the fourth edition. In 
doing this, the book has been carefully revised 
throughout, and where considered desirable, it has 
been enlarged. These revisions and amplifications, 
add greatly, as it is believed, to the value and use¬ 
fulness of the volume, and bring it fully up to date. 

The work of revision has been undertaken by the 
same competent hands that so satisfactorily edited 
the second and third editions. As now presented 
to the public, it is felt to be a complete and 
thoroughly reliable guide and companion to the in¬ 
telligent and enterprising searcher after ores and 
other useful minerals, including gems and gem¬ 
stones. It has been provided with a thorough 
Table of Contents and an Index, rendering refer¬ 
ence to any subject in it prompt and easy. 

(v) 



VI 


PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 


The publishers confidently look for a sale of this 
edition equal in its rapidity and extent to that 
of those which have preceded it. 


Philadelphia, May 10, 1899. 


H. C. B. 


PUBLISHER’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 


The death of Dr. Osborn, two years ago, renders 
it necessary that the Publisher should prepare the 
preface to this revised edition of The Prospector’s 
Field-Book and Guide. 

The fact of a second edition of this book having 
been called for so soon after the publication of the 
large first edition, justifies the belief that it has 
supplied a public requirement. The task of revis¬ 
ing the work has devolved upon thoroughly com¬ 
petent hands; and whilst it has been aimed, by the 
insertion of further information regarding the sub¬ 
jects treated in the original edition, to make it still 
more acceptable to those for whom it was prepared, 
a new chapter has also been added on Petroleum, 
Ozocerite, Asphalt and Peat, together with a Glos¬ 
sary of Terms used in prospecting, mining, miner¬ 
alogy, geology, etc. 

While the work of revision has been done with 
conscientious care, under the supervision of the 
Publisher, it can hardly be hoped that it has been 
so well done as if Dr. Osborn, with his profound 
knowledge of the subject treated, had been alive to 
direct it for himself, and in his own manner. 

(vii) 



viii publisher’s preface to second edition. 

Henry Stafford Osborn was born in Philadelphia, 
August 17, 1823, and died in New York City, Feb¬ 
ruary 2, 1894. Pie was graduated at the Univer¬ 
sity of Pennsylvania in 1841; went abroad in 1843 
or 1844; studied at Bonn, Germany, and at the 
Polytechnic Institution of London. Before the 
civil war he held the chair of Natural Science at 
Boanoke College, Va., and in 1866 accepted a pro¬ 
fessorship at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. Leav¬ 
ing Lafayette in 1870, he became, in 1871, Professor 
in Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. In 1865 he 
received from Lafayette College the degree of LL.D. 

In 1869 he published “ The Metallurgy of Iron 
and Steel;” in 1888, “A Practical Manual of Min¬ 
erals, Mines and Mining;” in 1892, the first edition 
of The Prospector’s Field-Book and Guide, the 
success of all of which books has been pronounced. 

Personally, Dr. Osborn was charming, full of in¬ 
formation on a wide range of subjects, which he 
had studied thoroughly ; enthusiastic, amiable and 
just; and the relations of his publisher with him 
during a quarter of a centurjq will ever be among 
the brightest and best recollections of that pub¬ 
lisher’s long career in business. 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 

Philadelphia, January 15, 1896. 


PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 


In the following pages we have attempted to 
present such a view of the whole subject of pro¬ 
specting for the useful minerals that any liberally 
educated reader may fully comprehend our mean¬ 
ing. We have therefore explained special terms 
where we have thought it convenient to use them, 
and where the technically educated student would 
not need an explanation. 

It must be understood that the subjects of chem¬ 
istry, mineralogy, and metallurgy are introduced 
only for their practical bearing upon the ores in 
hand, or those sought for, and not for theory, or the 
philosophy of the operation, much as such theory 
or philosophy would please and instruct. The 
prospector must, therefore, refer to larger works 
if he desire to be instructed in the principles gov¬ 
erning the sciences, the teachings of which we have 
frequently made use of. 

We would suggest to any one intending to use 
this volume for practical work, to become ac¬ 
quainted with the whole book before attempting to 
use any special part alone. The object and con¬ 
struction have made it necessary to treat some 
(ix) 



X 


PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 


special topics without repeating principles and 
methods already given in some part of the work, 
but which bear some relation to the topic under 
immediate consideration. 

The Table of Contents and Index have both been 
carefully prepared, and being very full, will make 
reference to any subject in the volume easy and 
satisfactory. 

Oxford, Ohio, Jan. 5, 1892. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 

PAGE 

Disappointment and loss caused by lack of knowledge 
by prospectors; Technical mineralogy, the first study 

of the prospector. 1 

Guises of minerals; Colors and forms under which native 
metals may appear; Advantage of cultivating a knowl¬ 
edge of minerals by sight. . 2 

Importance of cleavage and fracture; Definitions of vari¬ 
ous kinds of fracture; Streak ....*•• . 3 

Hardness; Scale of hardness.. 4 

Manner of trying the hardness of a mineral; What may 
be learned from the test of hardness; Flexibility and 
elasticity; Remarkable instance of flexibility. ... 5 

Smell; Taste; Malleability; Ductility. 6 

Lustre; Definitions of the various kinds of lustre; Specific 

gravity. 7 

Definition of the specific gravity of a mineral; Weight 

and form of minerals. 8 

Importance of a knowledge of the characteristics of the 
rocks associated with minerals; Desirability of a gen¬ 
eral knowledge of the manner in w r hich the geologic 

rocks are laid down. 9 

Signs by which the name of the sedimentary rock may be 

determined; Horizons of the rocks. 10 

Movement of the earth’s crust illustrated by a section 
showing contorted strata due to lateral pressure; Prac¬ 
tical geology; Horizons sterile in ores. 11 

(xi) 












CONTENTS. 


xii . 

PAGE 

Horizons in the United States which abound in the 
useful metals; Classification of rocks; Definition of 

rocks. 12 

General sameness in the geological horizons throughout 
the world; Table showing the relations of certain rocks 

one to another; Igneous rocks. 13 

Metamorphic rocks. 14 

The aqueous rocks; Sandstone, illustrated and described. 15 
Shale, illustrated and described; Granite; Granite with 
black mica and feldspar crystals with quartz as chief 

base, illustrated and described. 16 

Biotite; Muscovite; Mode of occurrence of the valuable 
minerals and metal-bearing deposits; Lodes; Beds and 

layers .. 17 

Irregular deposits; Surface deposits. 18 

Selection of a spot for starting actual prospecting opera¬ 
tions; Most likely localities of auriferous lodes; Source 
of gold in the right-hand branch of a forked river . . 19 

The right-hand theory fully established by practical ex¬ 
perience; Spots upon which the sun shines before noon 
richest in metal; Explanation of this theory . 20 

The color of the rocks as a guide to the prospector; 
Necessity of paying attention to the wash of rivers and 

creeks. 21 

Pilot stones; Indicative plants; Vegetal ion indicative of 

lead . . 22 

Vegetation indicative of the presence of iron, limestone, 

phosphate, silver and zinc. 23 

Hints in looking for deposits where superficial deposits 
are known to occur; Mode of occurrence of gold in 
Australia and in California; Mode of occurrence of 
other minerals; Points to be observed in examining a 
lode ... . . . . . . 24 

Table showing the association of ore in metalliferous 

veins. . . 25 

The blow-pipe; Kequirements for blow-pipe practice; 
Manner of preparing by carbonate of soda; Borax and 

other supplies .. 26 

Mode of using the blow-pipe; Practice by blowing upon a 
piece of charcoal.. 27 














CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


PAGE 

Colors of a candle flame; Reducing and oxidizing flames, 

illustrated and described. 28 

Management of the reducing and oxidizing flames; Defi¬ 
nition of the assay; Roasting; Illustration and practice 
in showing the characteristic power of the oxidizing 

and reducing flames . 29 

Mode of making a platinum wire loop, illustrated; How 
to make a blow-pipe; Principal means of chemically 

testing minerals before the blow-pipe. 31 

Blow-pipe experiments; Recognition of the presence of 

metals by the color imparted to fused borax. 32 

Table of color indications; Mode of testing with carbon¬ 
ate of soda on charcoal. 33 

Observation and inferences from the above test; Test for 
sulphur and arsenic and other substances. 35 

CHAPTER II. 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 

The composition of minerals indicated by their forms; 
Classes or systems of crystalline forms; Isomeric 

system. 36 

The cube, illustrated .and described; Variations of the 

cube. 37 

The octahedron and dodecahedron, illustrated and de¬ 
scribed ; Tetragonal system. 38 

The prism, illustrated and described; The zircon illus¬ 
trated and described; Hexagonal system .... .39 

Forms of the hexagonal system, illustrated and de¬ 
scribed . • • • • 40 

Orthorhombic system; Monoclinic system. 41 

Forms of the orthorhombic system, illustrated and de¬ 
scribed; Triclinic or thrice inclined system; Illustra¬ 
tions of the different systems of crystallization . . . 42 

Distinction between the turquois, lazulite and lapis 

lazuli. 43 

The topaz and its crystallization .. 44 

Meteoric iron; Ruby and sapphire .45 

Serious mistake of a Paris firm of jewellers; Locality of 
gems. 46 


















XIV 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER III. 

SURVEYING. 

To measure heights which are inaccessible, illustrated . 47 

To measure areas, illustrated by examples. 49 

To measure an inaccessible line, illustrated. 52 

The prism compass and its use. 54 

CHAPTER IV. 

ANALYSES OF ORES—WET METHOD. 

Preliminary examinations; Detection of sulphur, arsenic 
and silenium; Determination of native gold or silver . 56 

Indication of copper; Detection of antimony and tin; 
Determination of manganese, alumina, magnesia, lime, 

zinc, cobalt and nickel, and uranium. 57 

Determination of titanium and mercury; Detection of 

carbonates; Examination of sandstone. 58 

Qualitative analysis of ores; The dry method of analysis; 

Directions for the wet method of analysis. 59 

Indications of silver, lead or mercury, in the assay ... 61 

Apparatus for making hydrogen sulphide, described and 
illustrated; Manner of cutting off the bottom of a 

bottle. 62 

The filtrate; What the precipitate may contain. 64 

Treatment of the precipitate; Precipitation of chromium 
oxide; Blow-pipe test for chromium; Precipitation of 

alumina; Definition of excesses. 65 

Precipitation of manganese, cobalt and nickel. 67 

Establishment of the presence of mercury oxide and lead 

sulphate . . . .. 68 

Indications of bismuth and cadmium; Indications of 
copper, sulphur and gold; Detection of platinum and 

arsenic. 69 

Indications of antimony and tin.. 70 

Dry assay of ores; Crucibles: Scorifiers; The cupel; The 
muffle; An assay furnace described and illustrated 71 

Brasquing; Method of obtaining the amount of iron in 

an ore. 72 

Scales, weighing, etc.; Pulverization for the dry method. 73 















CONTENTS. 


XV 


PAGE 

Testing gold and silver ores; Cnpellation. 74 

Separation of the gold and silver by the wet process; 

Flux for melting the ore in a crucible. 75 

Testing of lead ore, galena; Testing of copper, tin, mer¬ 
cury and antimony ores. 76 

CHAPTER V. 

SPECIAL MINERALOGY—GOLD. 

Importance of studying minerals from actual specimens: 

Distribution of gold. 78 

Occurrence of gold in sea water; Chief sources of the 
supply of gold; Principal mode of occurrence of gold; 

Composition of native gold. 79 

Mexican rhodium gold; Gold amalgam; Black gold; 
Bismuth £old; To detect a content of native gold in 
pyrites; Crystallization of gold; Gold crystals illus¬ 
trated; Gold dust illustrated; Large lump of gold 
found at Forest Creek, Victoria, Australia, illustrated. 80 
Physical properties of gold; Variations in the color of 

gold. 81 

Action of gold under the blow-pipe and towards acids . 82 

The batea, illustrated and described; Panning out ... 83 

The cradle or rocker, illustrated and described. 84 

The long-tom, illustrated and described. 85 

Sluices and their construction. 86 

Hydraulic mining, described and illustrated. 87 

Burning and Drifting in the Forty-Mile District, 

Alaska. 89 

Lode prospecting. 90 

Directions for making an amalgamating assay. 91 

Construction of a retort. 92 

Calculating the amount of gold per ton an ordinary 
battery might be expected to save; Extraction of gold 

by means of cyanide of potassium.93 

Other forms and conditions of gold; Placer gold .... 94 

Gold amalgam; Discovery and extraction of gold; Where 

is gold found? Original position of gold. 95 

Gold in granitic regions illustrated by section showing 


















XVI 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

the two conditions under which gold is usually found 
in rock and drift; Significance of an ironstone “ blow 

out.”. 96 

Peculiar and seemingly irregular deposits of gold .... 97 

Origin of metamorphic rocks. 98 

Igneous rocks and their composition; Composition of 
metamorphic granite; Where the most paying gold is 

found. 99 

Gold in combination; To separate gold in metallic sul¬ 
phides, for instance, iron pyrites.100 

Mode of making fuming nitric acid. 101 

Another method of detecting and separating the gold . . 102 

What constitutes profitable gold mining.104 

Method of separating gold which gives very accurate re¬ 
sults .105 

Description of the Yukon gold district, Alaska ; Dissemi¬ 
nation of gold in Alaska; Where the profitable deposits 
have been found; Derivation of the gold of the Yukon 

district. 106 

Extent of the gold-bearing rocks.107 

Rule for ascertaining the amount of gold in a lump of 
auriferous quartz.108 

CHAPTER YI. 

TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 

Tellurium minerals; Tellurium; Nayagite; Hessite, 
Petzite; Sylvanite or graphic tellurium; Calaverite . . 110 
Value of tellurides; Platinum, its occurrence and proper¬ 
ties; Platinum in California and Oregon.Ill 

Chief source of supply of platinum; Consumption of 
platinum in the United States; Derivation of the word 

platinum; Sperrylite and its occurrence.112 

How to distinguish platinum; Chemical test for plat¬ 
inum; Separation of platinum from gold and otliei 

metals.113 

Preparation of stannous chloride; Iridium.114 

Osmium; Palladium; Silver, its occurrence and proper¬ 
ties; Mispickel; How to distinguish native silver be¬ 
fore the blow-pipe; Chemical test of silver ..... 115 


















CONTENTS. 


XVII 


PAGE 

Derivation of most of the silver of commerce.116 

Other forms in which silver is found; Silver sulphides, 
silver glance or argentite; Horn silver or cerargyrite . 117 

Brittle silver ore or stephanite.118 

Bed silver ore or ruby silver; Pyrargyrite; Proustite; 

Bromic silver or bromyrite. ... 119 

Valuing silver ores; Geology of silver ores illustrated by 
sections across the Comstock Lode and surrounding 
strata, east and west, and north and south, and show¬ 
ing the mines and the surface.120 

Non-metallic substances of the Comstock Lode.121 

Extent and value of the Comstock Lode; Occurrence of 

silver at the Eureka Mines, Nevada.123 

Peculiarity of the limestone overlying the Eureka Mines; 

Geology of the Buby Hill Mines; The Emma Mine . . 125 
General geologic conditions in which silver ores are 
found. . . 126 

CHAPTEB VII. 

COPPER. 

Copper, its occurrence and properties; Manner of testing 

minerals containing copper. .127 

Bed copper ore. ruby copper or cuprite; Copper glance, 

vitreous copper, or chalcocite.128 

Gray copper or tetrahedrite; Copper pyrites or chalco- 

pyrite.I 29 

Peacock ore; Silicate of copper or chrysocolla; Black 
oxide of copper; Malachite or green carbonate of 

copper.130 

Blue carbonate of copper or azurite; Variegated copper 
pyrites, bornite or erubiscite; Geology of copper illus¬ 
trated by section of the copper bed at the Dolly Hide 
Mine, section of strata in Lake Superior copper region, 

and section of the Eagle vein, Lake Superior.131 

Facts to be remembered to become ready in the detection 

of copper.I 32 

Bocks with which copper is associated.133 

Examination of specimens for copper; Examination of 
the region in which copper is supposed to occur ... 134 














xviii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

To obtain the per cent, of copper in an ore.135 

Precautions to be observed in the assay of copper .... 136 

CHAPTER VIII. 

LEAD AND TIN. 

Lead, its occurrence and properties; Galena; Test for 

silver in galena.138 

Order of strata in the lead district of Wisconsin, Illinois 
and Iowa; Geology and form of lodes of the galena 
lodes illustrated by lead lode in micaceous state in 

mine near Middletown, Conn.139 

Carbonate of lead or cerussite, illustrated by section of 

strata in California Gulch, Colorado.140 

Sulphate of lead or anglesite; Phosphate of lead or 

pyromorphite.141 

Chromate of lead or crocoite; Lead ochre or massicot; 
Lead-antimony ores; Jamesonite; Zinkenite; The geol¬ 
ogy of lead, illustrated by a section of galena lime¬ 
stone .142 

Circulation of water in lead veins; Deposit of lead in a 

fissure in the limestone.144 

Tin; Assay of tin ore.145 

Cassiterite; Wood tin; Toad’s eye tin; Stream tin; Prop¬ 
erties of tin ore.146 

Discovery of tin in Banca and Billiton; Tin pyrites 

(sulphide of tin); Bell metal. 147 

Eorm in which the tin ores of South Dakata are found; 
Harney Peak mines; Tinstone as a type of a strongly 

marked class of deposits.148 

The distribution of minerals governed by laws; Minerals 

most commonly associated with tin.149 

Wolframite, its properties and uses ..150 

Brown garnet of the Hearney mines.151 

CHAPTER IX. 

ZINC—IRON. 

Chief ores of zinc; Zinc carbonate or Smithsonite, its 
properties and detection by the blow-pipe; Zinc silicate 
or calamine. 152 

















CONTENTS. 


XIX 


PAGE 


Willemite; Red oxide of zinc or zincite; Sulphide of zinc, 

sphalerite or blende or black jack.153 

Geology of zinc, illustrated by section of strata near 

Sparta, New Jersey, zinc mines. 154 

Deposits of sulphide of zinc in Colorado and Montana; 
Blow-pipe tests for zinc; Iron; Native iron; Chief ores 

of iron; Magnetite, k ‘ polaric ” or loadstone.155 

Franklinite; Specular ore or red hematite.156 

Geologic horizons around the iron ores of Lake Superior: 

Brown iron ore or brown hematite or limonite .... 157 
Spathic iron ore or siderite; Black band ore ... . . 158 

Chromic iron or chromite; Iron pryites.159 

Arsenical pyrites or mispiekel; Geology of iron ores . . 160 
Geologic regions in which iron ores are found; Section 

of Pilot Knob, Missouri .161 

The use of the magnetic needle in prospecting for iron 
ore; W. H. Scranton’s report on this subject; Summary 
of the indications from the magnetic needle in search¬ 
ing for ore ... .162 

Method of using the compass in searching for ore . . . 163 


CHAPTER X. 

MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT AND CADMIUM. 


Mercury or quicksilver; Native mercury; Cinnabar or 

sulphide of mercury; Native amalgam.166 

Quicksilver deposits at Almaden, Spain; Cinnabar at 
Idria, Austria; Quicksilver-bearing belt of California. 167 

Bismuth ... 168 

Nickel and its chief ores; Smaltite.169 

Nickel arsenide, “ copper-nickel ” or nicolite; Emerald- 

nickel; Millerite. 110 

Nickel ore at the Gap Mine, Lancaster Co., Pa.; Sources 
of nickel at Sudbury, Canada.171 


Foleyrite; Whartonite; Jack’s tin or blueite; Analysis of 
ores for nickel and cobalt; Separation of lead sulphate, 

silex, etc. . . . 

To separate the copper .. 

Precipitation of the iron. 















XX 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Construction of a hydrogen apparatus.17(3 

Separation of nickel and cobalt.178 

Garnierite and its localities; Cobalt; Smaltite; Cobaltite. 181 

Erythrite or cobalt bloom; Linnaeite.182 

Earthy cobalt, cobalt wad or asbolite; Cadmium; 
Greenockite.* •.183 


CHAPTER XT. 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, AND OTHER 
MINERALS. 


Aluminium; The most valuable kaolins; Corundum . . 184 

Cryolite.185 

Bauxite..186 

Deposits of bauxite in Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas; 

Clays at Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.187 

Antimony; Stibnite; Geology of antimony; Manganese; 

Classes of manganese ores; Wad.188 

Pyrolusite; Psilomelane. 189 

Manganese carbonate or rhodochrosite; Geological posi¬ 
tion of manganese. 190 

Other useful minerals; Alum; Apatite, phosphate of 

lime.191 

Caprolites; Principal use of apatite; Arsenic; Native 

arsenic.192 

Realgar; Orpiment; Asbestos.193 

Barytes or barium sulphate, commonly called heavy 

spar. 194 

Witherite or carbonite of barium; Borax; Clays.195 

Classes of soft clays; Fuller’s earth; Coal (mineral) ... 196 
Anthracite (glance coal, stone coal); Bituminous coal; 
Cannel coal; Brown coal or lignite; Jet; Dolomite . . 197 

Feldspar, orthoclase; Fluorspar, fluorite.. . 198 

Graphite, plumbago, black lead; Mode of testing the 

purity of graphite. 199 

Gypsum; Alabaster; Selenite; Satin spar; Plaster of Paris; 

Infusorial earth. 200 

Lithographic limestone . . 201 

Meerschaum or sepiolite; Micas.202 


Biotite or magnesian mica; Muscovite or potash mica ; 
Molybdenum. 


203 

























CONTENTS. 


XXI 


PAGE 

Nitre; Rock salt; Slate; Sulphur.204 

Talc or soapstone; Steatite .205 

CHAPTER XII. 

PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 

Occurrence of crude petroleum; Outfit and best time of 

the year for prospecting.206 

Examination of the iridescent film on the surface of 

water ; Indication of an outcrop of oil.207 

Tracing the source of the oil; the water test; Fresh 
fracture of oil-bearing sandstone; Determination of 

the nature of oil-bearing sandstone . .208 

Color of traces of oil upon the surface of water in cooler 

weather ; Iridescent films in swampy puddles.209 

Salses (mud volcanoes) and exhalations of natural gas as 
an indication of petroleum ; Occurrence of oil in defi¬ 
nite geological horizons.210 

Occurrence of oil in beds or in veins ; Tracing a thick 
seam or stratum of oil-bearing sandstone ; Outcrops in 

a large mass of sandstone.211 

Data to be marked in the sketch map when promising 

outcrops of oil have been found, illustrated.212 

Yein-like occurrence of oil, illustrated and described . . 213 
Occurrence of oil in a maze of smaller and larger fissures. 214 
Quality of the oil; Ozocerite and its occurrence; Ozo¬ 
cerite deposit in East Galicia, illustrated and described. 215 

Mineral resins allied to ozocerite ; Retinite.216 

Elaterite or elastic bitumen ; Pyropissite ; Properties of 

ozocerite ; native asphalt or bitumen. 217 

Most remarkable deposits of asphalt; Asphalt in Cali¬ 
fornia and other portions of the United States .... 218 
Peat.219 

CHAPTER XIII. 

GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 

Occurrence of gems and precious stones in the United 
States; General unfamiliarity with gems in their native 
state; Diamond ; Occurrence of diamonds in India . 220 












XXII 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Occurrence of diamonds in Borneo, Brazil and South 
Africa; Composition of South African diamond-bear¬ 
ing sands ; Minerals found in these sands . . 221 

The diamond-bearing ground at the Kimberley Mine, 
South Africa; Occurrence of diamonds in the Ural, 
Australia, New Zealand, and the United States 222 

Localities where diamonds have been found in the United 
States; Natural surface of the diamond : Color of the 

diamond.223 

Bort; Properties of the diamond; On what the value of 
the diamond depends.224 


Some of the largest diamonds, illustrated; The Koh-i- 
noor ; The Orloff; The Grand Duke of Tuscany or 
Florentine ; The Pitt or Regent; Sapphires and rubies; 
Oriental topaz ; Oriental emerald ; Oriental amethyst; 


Asterias. 225 

Principal localities for sapphires in the United States. . 226 
Spinel; Balas ruby ; Chlorospinel; Rubicelle ; Alman- 

dine ruby ; Pleonast; Topaz . .227 

Localities for topaz in the United States; Beryl or 

emerald . . 228 

Phenacite; Zircon.229 

Garnet; Localities for garnet in the United States . . 230 

Tourmaline; Epidote ; Opal. .... 231 

Precious opal; Fire opal; Harlequin opal; Milk opal; 
Resin opal; Wax opal; Jasper opal: Wood opal; Tur- 

quois. 232 

Agate; Eye agates; Moss agate. 233 

Chalcedony; Clirysoprase; Carnelian and sard ; Jasper; 
Bloodstone or heliotrope; Rock crystal; Lake George 

diamonds.234 

Amethyst; Onyx or sardonyx; Orthoclase ; Oligroclase 
and labradorite; Sunstone ; Moonstone; Iridescent 
labradorite; Amazon stone; List of gem stones com¬ 
piled by Mr. George F. Kunz. 235 

List of gem stones known to occur in the United States. 236 
List of species and varieties found in the United States, 
but not met with in gem form; List of species and 
varieties not yet identified in any form in the United 













CONTENTS. 


XX111 


PAGE 

States; List of gem-stones occurring only in the United 


States.237 

Table of characteristics of gems.238 


APPENDIX. 

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, SPECIFIC GRAVITY, BORING, 
CHEMICAL ELEMENTS, GLOSSARY, ETC. 

Basis of British weights and measures; English Length. 241 
Particular msasures of length; Surface measure; Surface 
measure in feet; Solid measure; Weight; Troy weight. 242 
Avoirdupois weight; Weights by specific gravity; Method 
of finding the weight of masses without the use of 


scales.243 

Specific gravity, how to find; Special weights, etc .... 245 
French measures—length; Surface; Solid measure . . . . 246 
Weight; Specific gravity of metals, ores, rocks, etc.; Ores 

associated with gold and silver; Other ores.247 

Minerals of common occurrence.248 

Average in cubic feet of a ton weight of various mater¬ 
ials; Power for mills.249 

Boring; Diamond drill.250 

The chemical elements, their symbols, equivalents, and 

specific gravities. .251 

To find the proportional parts by weight of the elements 
of any substance whose chemical formula is known ; 

Common names of chemical substances.253 

Prospectors’ pointers. 255 

Glossary of terms used in connection with prospecting, 

mining, mineralogy, geology, etc.257 

Index.• •. 279 








































































































THE 


PROSPECTOR'S FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


CHAPTER I. 

PREPARATOR V INSTRUCTION. 

It is well-known that much disappointment and 
loss accrue through lack of knowledge by prospec¬ 
tors, who, with all their enterprise and energy, are 
often ignorant, not only of the probable locality, 
mode of occurrence and widely differing appearance 
of the various valuable minerals, but also of the best 
means of locating and testing the ores when found. 
It is a well-established fact that the majority of the 
best mineral finds have been made by the purest 
accident, often by men who had no mining knowl¬ 
edge whatever, and that many valuable discoveries 
have been delayed, or, when made, abandoned as 
not payable from the same cause—ignorance of the 
rudiments of mineralogy and mining. Hence in 
preparation for skilled work, the prospector should 
have become thoroughly acquainted with the forms 
under which useful minerals and metals appear. 

This should be his very first study. It may be 
called the study of technical mineralogy. 

(1) 



2 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

He should be able to detect all the guises, as they 
may be called, which usually present themselves. 

Some metals are found native and in some degree 
of purity, as in the cases of gold, silver, copper, 
mercury, and platinum, and when so found are 
readily determined at once by any one who is at all 
acquainted with those metals as they occur in gen¬ 
eral use. But frequently native metals appear 
under such colors, and even forms, that the dis¬ 
coverer must possess more knowledge than any one 
usually possesses who has seen the metal in the arts 
only. Gold, as an illustration, is frequently found 
in various shades of yellow, in accordance with the 
amount of silver or copper it may contain, and yet 
to the practiced eye of a true mineralogist it never 
loses the true gold hue. 

Iron pyrites, which is composed of sulphur and 
iron, and called “pyrite,” mineralogically, has a 
color somewhat similar to that of gold, and so also 
has a mineral called “ chalcopyrite,” or copper 
pyrites, which contains copper, iron and sulphur. 
These, with others, vary in the yellow shade, and 
degrees of color, but by the practiced eye are in¬ 
stantly detected. Of course the brittleness of these 
minerals is unlike the softness of native gold, and 
this would instantly reveal the fact that they were 
not gold; but we are now speaking of the practiced 
eye alone, and therefore of the benefit of cultivating 
a knowledge by sight of minerals. The mode in 
which a mineral breaks when smartly struck with 
a hammer, or pressed with the point of a knife, is a 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


3 


character of importance. Many minerals can only 
be broken in certain directions, for instance, a 
crystal of calc spar can only be split parallel to the 
faces of a rhombohedron; many crystals break more 
readily in one direction than in others. When¬ 
ever a mineral breaks with a smooth, flat, even sur¬ 
face, it is said to exhibit cleavage. Cleavage always 
depends upon the crystalline form. But minerals 
often break in irregular directions, having no con¬ 
nection whatever with the crystalline form, and this 
kind of breaking is called fracture. Th'e nature of 
the surface given by fracture is often a character of 
importance, especially in distinguishing the varieties 
of a mineral species. Thus quartz and many min¬ 
eral species show a shell-like fracture-surface which 
is called conchoidal , or if less distinct, small con- 
choidal or sub-conchoidal. More commonly the 
fracture is simply said to be uneven , when the sur¬ 
face is rough and irregular. Occasionally it is 
hackly , like a piece of fractured iron. Earthy and 
splintery are other terms sometimes used and readily 
understood. 

Streak. The color and appearance of the line or 
furrow on the surface of a mineral, when scratched 
or rubbed, is called the streak, which is best ob¬ 
tained by means of a hard-tempered knife or a file. 
The color of a mineral and its streak may corre¬ 
spond, or the mineral and its streak may possess dif¬ 
ferent colors, or the mineral may he colored while 
its streak is colorless. For instance, cinnabar has 
both a red color and a red streak ; specular iron has 


4 


prospector's field-book and guide. 


a black color, but a red streak ; sapphire has a blue 
color, but a white colorless streak. The streak of 
most minerals is dull and pulverulent, but a few 
exhibit a shining streak like that formed on scratch¬ 
ing a piece of lead or copper, This kind of streak 
is distinguished by the name of metallic. In judg¬ 
ing the streak of a mineral, much-weathered pieces 
should be rejected. 

Hardness is another character of great importance 
in distinguishing minerals; it is the quality of re¬ 
sisting abrasion. The diamond is the hardest sub¬ 
stance known, as it will scratch all others. Talc is 
one of the softest minerals. Other minerals possess 
intermediate degrees of hardness. To express how 
hard any mineral is, it becomes necessary to com¬ 
pare it with some known standand. Ten standards 
of different degrees have been chosen, and are given 
in order in the following scale : 

1. Talc, easily scratched by the finger-nail. 

2. Gypsum, does not easily yield to the finger¬ 
nail, nor will it scratch a copper-coin. 

3. Calcite, scratches a copper coin, but is also 
scratched by a copper coin. 

4. Fluorite, is not scratched by a copper coin, and 
does not scratch glass. 

5. Apatite, scratches glass with difficulty; is 
readily scratched by a knife. 

6. Feldspar, scratches glass with ease; is difficult 
to scratch by a knife. 

7. Quartz, cannot be scratched by a knife, and 
readily scratches glass, 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


5 


8. Topaz, \ 

9. Corundum, } harder than flint or quartz, 

10. Diamond, scratches any substance. 

If on drawing a knife across a mineral it is im¬ 
pressed as easily as calcite, its hardness is said to be 
3. If a mineral scratches quartz, but is itself 
scratched by topaz, its hardness is between 7 and 8. 

In trying the hardness of a mineral, a sound por¬ 
tion of the mineral should be chosen and a sharp 
angle used in trying to scratch. A streak of dust 
on scratching one mineral with another may cone 
from the waste of either, and it cannot be deter¬ 
mined which is the softer until after wiping off the 
dust and examining with a lens. 

By the test of hardness, clear distinctions may be 
drawn between minerals which resemble each other. 
Iron pyrites and copper pyrites, for instance, are 
similar in appearance, but copper pyrites can easily 
be scratched with a knife, while iron pyrites is 
nearly as hard as quartz and the knife makes no 
impression upon it. 

Flexibility and elasticity. Some minerals can be 
readily bent without breaking, for instance, talc, 
mica, chlorite, molybdenite, native silver, etc. Min¬ 
erals which after being bent can resume their for¬ 
mer shape like a steel spring, are called elastic, for 
instance, mica and elaterite. A remarkable instance 
of flexibility, even combined with elasticity, amongst 
the rocks, is that of a micaceous sandstone called 
itacolumite, which in Brazil is the matrix of the 
diamonds. 


6 


prospector's field-book and guide. 


Smell. A few minerals only, like bitumen, have a 
strong smell which is readily recognized, but speci¬ 
mens generally require to be struck with a hammer, 
rubbed, or breathed upon before any smell can be 
observed. Some black limestones have a bitumin¬ 
ous odor, while some have a sulphurous, and others a 
foetid smell. Hydraulic limestone has a smell of clay 
which can be detected when the mineral is breathed 
on. Some minerals containing much arsenic, for 
instance mispickel, smell of garlic when struck 
with a hammer. 

Taste. Only soluble minerals have any taste, and 
this can only be described by comparison with well- 
known substances, for instance acid, vitriol; pungent, 
sal ammoniac; salt, rock salt; cooling, nitre; astrin¬ 
gent, alum; metallic astringent, sulphate of eopper; 
bitter, sulphate of magnesia; sweet, borax. 

Malleability. Malleable substances can be ham¬ 
mered out without breaking, and it is on this qual¬ 
ity that the value of certain metals in the arts de¬ 
pends, for instance, copper, silver, gold, iron, etc. 

A few minerals are malleable, and at the same 
time sectile, i. e., they can be cut with a knife, for 
instance, silver glance, horn silver and ozokerite. 

Mineral caoutchouc (elaterite) is sectile, but like 
india rubber, can only be shaped when hot. The 
elasticity of elaterite is so characteristic that the 
mineral will be readily recognized. 

Ductility, or the capability of being drawn into 
wire, is a property which is confined exclusively to 
certain metals. It is possessed in the highest degree 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


7 


by gold, which can be drawn into the finest wire, 
or rolled into leaves of such fineness that 30,000 of 
them are not thicker than an eighth of an inch. 

Lustre. Some minerals have a brilliant lustre like 
that of metals; in others the lustre resembles that 
of glass, or silk, or resin, or wax, while others are 
dull or destitute of lustre. The kinds of lustre dis¬ 
tinguished are as follows : 

Metallic: the lustre of a metallic surface as of 
steel, lead, tin, copper, gold, etc. 

Vitreous , or glassy lustre: that of a piece of broken 
glass. This is the lustre of most quartz and of a 
large part of noil-metallic minerals. 

Adamantine. This is the lustre of the diamond. 
It is the brilliant, almost oily, lustre shown by 
some very hard minerals, as diamond, corundum, 
etc. When sub-metallic it is termed metallic ada¬ 
mantine, as seen in some varieties of white lead ore 
or cerussite. 

Resinous or waxy: the lustre of a piece of rosin, 
as that of zinc blende, some opal, etc. Near this, 
but quite distinct, is the greasy lustre , shown by some 
specimens of milky quartz. 

Pearly or the lustre of mother-of-pearl. This is 
common where a mineral has very perfect cleavage. 
Examples: talc, native magnesia, stilbite, etc. 

Silky, like silk. This is the result of fibrous 
structure, as the variety of calcite (or of gypsum) 
called satin spar, also of most asbestus. 

Specific gravity. Prospectors soon acquire some 
proficiency in testing the weight of minerals by 


8 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

handling them. A lump of pyrite, for instance, 
can readily be distinguished from gold by its weight, 
since a mass of gold of the same size would weigh 
at least three times as much, and a little practice 
with well-known substances will enable the pros¬ 
pector to class most minerals within certain broad 
limits by weighing them in the hand. 

The specific gravity of a mineral is its weight 
compared with water at a standard temperature and 
pressure, which is taken as the standard, and de¬ 
scribed as having a specific gravity of 1 ; conse¬ 
quently, to determine that of a mineral, it is neces¬ 
sary to find the weight of a piece of the mineral and 
that of a corresponding bulk of water, and to divide 
the first by the last. This can be done with great 
accuracy in the laboratory, where delicate balances 
are available, but is not applicable in the field, when 
the most that can be undertaken is to class minerals 
roughly within certain broad limits, and, indeed, 
this is generally sufficient for the prospector. Some 
rules for finding weights by specific gravity are 
given in the Appendix. 

What has previously been said of color may also 
be said of weight and form. A lump of pyrite in 
the hands of a skillful mineralogist would be dis¬ 
tinguished from gold by its weight, since as above 
mentioned, a mass of gold of the same size would 
weigh at least three times as much. Three crystal- 
linepieces, the one of barite, the other two of lime 
carbonate and of quartz, may to the unskillful eye 
appear equally transparent; but the form of the 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


9 


first is tabular, that of the latter two is in six-sided 
crystals, but the lime carbonate crystals terminate 
in three sides, while the quartz always (like the 
sides) in six. 

Besides a knowledge of the forms under which the 
minerals we seek present themselves, it is also neces¬ 
sary to learn the characteristics of some of the rocks 
which are generally associated with those minerals. 
The object of this knowledge is to serve in directing 
us to those regions where we may with greater prob¬ 
ability discover the minerals we seek. It also serves 
to warn us out of a region where we should not 
expect to find what we desire. 

To illustrate, we may not expect to find iron ores 
of a certain kind, brown hematites for instance, in a 
granitic country. On the other hand, we may find 
the magnetic ores in such a region, and it is useless 
to explore a granitic region for black band iron ore, 
although it may be the proper region to discover 
red hematite. 

It is, therefore, important that the prospector 
should be able to distinguish many of the geologic 
rocks to help in guiding or in checking him, in his 
explorations. 

A general knowledge, therefore, of the manner in 
which the geologic rocks are “ laid down,” their 
order, or succession, in the earth, is important, and 
the distinction between sedimentary and that which 
has been, and is usually called “ igneous rock,” but 
more properly “ azoic rock,” that is, rock which 
does not exhibit any remains of fossil or organic 


10 


prospector’s field-book and guide. 


life. For often the only signs by which we can, 
with any degree of certainty, determine what is the 
name of the sedimentary rock is by finding the re¬ 
mains of former life, that is, the kind of fossil it 
contains. Prof. Dana says (The Amer. Journal of 
Science, Nov. and Dec., 1890) that it is settled that 
the kind of rock in itself considered is not a safe 
criterion of geological age. 

If all the rocks in the world had been laid down 


Fig. 1. 



Section showing contorted strata due to j.ateral pressure, aa, “anti¬ 
clinal axes; c, the “synclinal axis.” The directions of the arrows, ee, ee, is 
that of “the strike.” That of the arrows dd, is that of “the dip” of the 
strata, always measured Irom the horizon; g<j, are the out-crops. 

in regularly horizontal sequence and had always re¬ 
mained in their own separate “ horizons,” as every 
rock of the same age is called, not only should we 
find them all parallel, one over the other, but we 
might readily determine to some extent what were 

















PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


11 


the exact order and distance of any one horizon, or 
geological age. But, although there is a general 
order, the same in all parts of the world, there have 
been upheavals and sinkings, dislocations and 
erosions, during the ages, so that it is necessary that 
the prospector should become acquainted with the 
various changes probable in the order and forms of 
the vast rocks which carry the minerals for which 
he is seeking. 

Some of these movements of the earth’s crust are 
represented in Fig. 1. 

PRACTICAL GEOLOGY. 

We repeat that it is of considerable importance 
that the prospector should have at least some general 
knowledge of those geological horizons with which 
his work is specially associated. As we have inti¬ 
mated, useful minerals do not always confine them¬ 
selves to one horizon ; but there are certain ranges 
of rock which indicate their vicinity. There are 
also limits which are never overpassed by some use¬ 
ful minerals, and experience has shown that some 
horizons are always sterile in ores, and it is there¬ 
fore useless ever to expect to find them in paying 
quantities, in certain rocks or beyond them in cer¬ 
tain directions. 

Gold often occurs where it will not pay to open 
and work the strata, so also with lead and copper. 
It is well to learn the relations of such barren 
regions, or horizons, as the strata are called. 

In the following table we have given chief place 


12 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

to those horizons which have been found in our 
own country to abound in the useful minerals, and 
we advise the possession of small specimens of the 
principal rocks mentioned and the special examina¬ 
tion of the specimens under a good lens, so as to 
become thoroughly acquainted with their appear¬ 
ance and their minute parts of composition. 

All rock may be classified as— 

1. Igneous. 

2. Metamorphie. 

3. Aqueous. 

Speaking geologically, not only the hard consoli¬ 
dated massive and stony substances are called 
“ rocks,” but any natural deposits of stony material 
such as sand, earth, or clay, when in natural beds, 
are geological rocks. Very few of the rocks of this 
earth, at any rate so far as examined, are in their 
original and primal condition. Even the granites 
and volcanic rocks are composed of other and more 
ancient material disintegrated, ground up, or worn 
down, settled, buried, and compressed by ages of 
enormous pressure, or consolidated by cementation. 
Some have been “ laid down ” under water, having 
been disintegrated into dust, carried by the winds of 
ages out over the oceans and seas, and settled down 
into the form of the present rocks, which afterward 
have been lifted up into mountains and plains above 
the seas. But by the transporting power of rivers 
or currents in ancient oceans, and because of un¬ 
equal upheaval of some regions where subterranean 
forces were greater than at distant places, very large 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


13 


differences in the nature of the deposit have occurred, 
even in limited regions. These special and limited 
forces will account for the fact that although, taking 
the geological horizons throughout the world, there 
is a general sameness, differences do occur, and 
important members of the order of succession are 
omitted in some regions, and exceptions to general 
rules occur. 

We give, therefore, in the table following, those 
universally accepted relations of certain rocks, one 
to another, in the great geologic arrangement of the 
world, omitting some of the subsidiary limited and 
unimportant horizons. 

1. IGNEOUS ROCKS are such as have been sub¬ 
jected to sufficient heat to melt the ingredi¬ 
ents. Of these rocks— 

Volcanic rocks are those which have been cooled 
near or at the surface, as lavas, etc. 

Trachyte ; a grayish rock of rough fracture ; the 
same specific gravity as quartz, but mainly 
constituted of grains of glassy feldspar. It 
is essentially a unisilicate of alumina, with 
10 to 15 per cent, potash, a little soda and 
lime; differs from quartz in that it fuses 
before the blow-pipe, while quartz remains 
unfused except when soda is used. 

Basalt; blackish or dark brown. Traps , green¬ 

stone , dolerite , amydolite; these latter four are 
only modifications, being all unisilicates with 
smaller amounts of potash than in trachyte, 


14 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

a little more soda and lime, and some traces 
of iron and magnesia, varying in color and 
form. 

Obsidian is a glass, something like bottle glass, 
of a dark shade, and translucent. 

All these are compact in texture except where 
some holes have been worn in by steam or gases. 
They are frequently found penetrating several strata, 
having been forced up in columns almost vertically, 
and sometimes spreading out horizontally for many 
miles between the strata or on the surface, and are 
called volcanic dykes, or intrusive rocks or lava. 
These and such-like are igneous rocks. 

It is not certain that granite rocks are of igneous 
origin, but they seem to belong to the metamorphic 
series. 

2. METAMORPHIC; these are of igneous, subse¬ 
quently to the time when they were of aque¬ 
ous origin, and have undergone a change 
through pressure and heat, and, perhaps, in 
connection with steam or water. Of this 
class are the following : 

Gneiss, having a composition of small pieces of 
feldspar, mica, and quartz, like some gran¬ 
ites, but laminated or foliated in form, and 
not equally solid, homogeneous, and contin¬ 
uous throughout its structure as granite is. 

Mica Schist. This term is given to those 
laminated rocks composed of mica and quartz 
in small particles, easily broken up, but more 


STRATIFIED ROCKS. 



GENERAL DIVISIONS. 

SUBDIVISIONS. 

CHARACTERISTICS. 


RECENT, 

PLEISTOCENE, 

OR QUARTERNARY. 

All its shells and hones 
are of existing species. 

Tertiary rocks yield brick and other clays, gypsum, sand, phosphate of lime deposits such as 
are in Florida, South Carolina, and elsewhere. GOLD in the drift and alluvial, also PLATINUM 
(Iridium, see text), and TIN. 

Coal fields (brown or lignite) of this Period, occur in India, Indian Atchipelago, Japan, New 
Zealand, Vancouver’s Island, and in Europe; also in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, 
etc. The true coal (anthracite and bituminous) belongs to the Carboniferous only. 

A very hard lignite exists at Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard, in this formation. 

TERTIARY OR 
CENOZOIC. 

PLIOCENE. 

MIOCENE. 

EOCENE. 

About 50 per cent, of ex¬ 
isting species of shells. 

Contains 80 per cent, of 
extinct species. 

Contains fresh water and 
marine strata, animals all 
extinct. 


CRETACEOUS. 

Upper. 

Middle. 

Lower. 

Upper Chalk with flints, but the Lower 1 The whole formation contains sea-shells, sponges, 
Chalk without flints. 1 sea-urchins, etc. 

Contains Greensand in England and in New Jersey, used as a marl and fertilizer. There is a 
supposed Cretaceous lignite in Alaska, Colorado, California, Utah, etc. 

o 


Whealden. 

Consists of sand, clay, or marl, the sand used in glass making. 

P 3 o 

gs 

JURASSIC. 

Portland Stone. 
Oxford Group. 
Stonesfield Slate. 

Some English coal is found in the Oolite. Kimmeridge clay is found in upper Oolite; the fine 
Bavarian lithographic stone in the middle Oolite. 

eg 

w 

cc 

Lias 

Limestone in horizontal 
strata. 

Conspicuous for the number of ammonites and nautilus shells. Furnishes building and paving 
stone. 

TRIASSIC. 

Keuper. 

Muschelkalk. 

Bunter-sandstone. 

Called by the Germans TRIAS. 

Connecticut river sandstone with footprints. 

Red clays, marls, shales and sandstones. The New Red Sandstone of England. 

In Europe great salt beds. 


PERMIAN. 

Dark red sandstone. 
Magnesian limestone. 
Conglomerates, Breccias, 
Marls in all three. 

Mostly sandstones and marlytes, some impure magnesian limestone and gypsum. Thin seams 
of coal, unworkable. With exception of BROWN HEMATITE iron ore and the metals mentioned 
above, all the other metals are found in the formations below. 

O 

N 

O 

w 

(J 

<1 

CARBONIFEROUS. 

Seams of Anthracite and 
bituminous coals of vary¬ 
ing thickness. 

Millstone grit. 
Subcarboniferous. 

The black band iron ore. Limestone from the same mines with the coal in Great Britain, but 
not so frequently in America. Anthracite, cannel, and bituminous coal in seams in limestone, 
sandstone, and shales, forming the “ The Coal Measures.” 

Affords PETROLEUM in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and elsewhere, and salines in Michigan. It is the 
MOUNTAIN LIMES TONE of England. Largely of corals. 

P-I 

tf 

o 

P4 

DEVONIAN. 

Catskill Period. 
Chemung Period. 
Hamilton Period. 
Comiferous Period. 

Includes the OLD RED SANDSTONE OF ENGLAND. . 

Hamilton black shales produce oil; the Hamilton beds afford excellent flagging stone. 
Corniferous called also Upper Helderberg group. 

HH 

PH 

Ph 

Upper 

SILURIAN. 

Lower 

Oriskany Sandstone. 
Lower Helderberg Period. 
Salina Period. 
Niagara Period. 

Salina Period supplies the salt waters of Salina and Syracuse, N. Y. 


Trenton Period. 
Canadian Period. 
Potsdam Sandstone. 

The LEAD MINES of Iowa and Wisconsin are in the Magnesian Limestone of the Canadian 
Period. 



Cambrian. 

Laurentian. 

ARCHiEAN. 


---- (.Between pages 14 ana 10 .) 


























































































































PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


15 


easily broken into tabular or leaf-like pieces, 
because the mica has been deposited in planes 
allowing of cleavage. 

3. THE AQUEOUS ROCKS are simple water 
rocks—that is, rocks composed of sediments 
from the dust or ground-up remains of other 
rocks. The presence of such sediments is due 
to the transporting power of rivers, floods, or 
currents, and also of winds and storms and 
other agencies, carrying the dust to the ocean 
waters where it was arrested and became a 
sediment. 

In sandstone (Fig. 2), the grains of sand are 
rounded, having no sharp edges as in granite. 


Fig. 2. 



Sandstone. 


Where the sedimentary material was exceedingly 
dust-like, it sometimes is laid down as fine mud and 
frequently in lamina, as in shale (Fig. 3). 




16 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

Fig. 3. 



Shale. 


Granite is a term descriptive of rocks generally 
composed of quartz, feldspar and mica, in grains 
(hence the name) of a crystalline form. But the 
granites are not all alike in the amount of either of 
the above-mentioned minerals, nor are they alike in 
color. Some granites contain no mica, as in graphic 
granite, only quartz and feldspar, and the quartz in 
the feldspar resembling written characters. Others 
contain hornblende as well as mica, or in the 
place of mica ; the hornblende being in dark or 
black crystalline specks, pieces, or crystals, and 
consisting essentially of silica, magnesia, lime, and 
iron. This granite is called syenite granite. Where 
the feldspar is in distinct crystals in compact base, 


Fig. 4 



Granite with black mica and feldspar crystals, with quartz as chief base. 




PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


17 


and sometimes lighter than the base, which is fre¬ 
quently reddish, purple, or dark green, it is a por- 
phyritic granite. The granites are sometimes whit¬ 
ish, grayish, or flesh-red. They are considered as 
metamorphic and not igneous (Dana), although 
some authors still consider them to be igneous. 
They always present a crystalline grain in varying 
degrees of fineness and prominence. One form is 
given in Fig. 4, from a specimen in the author’s 
possession. 

This specimen contains two kinds of mica, one 
black, biotite, the other white, of silvery appearance, 
muscovite. The biotite presents in spots the appear¬ 
ance of hornblende, and only the pen-knife point 
shows the scaly lamination of mica under the lens. 
It also contains crystalline forms of potash feldspar 
(i orthoclase ), distinguishable from the quartz by their 
side only, by the lamellar fracture of its edges, and 
its peculiar vitreous glimmer, for practically the 
hardness appears the same, although feldspar is (6.6 
and quartz 7) slightly softer. It would be well for 
the prospector to gather many forms of granite and 
examine them under the lens until he becomes 
thoroughly used to the variations. 

The valuable minerals and metal-bearing deposits 
of the earth occur as 

Lodes. By a lode or vein is generally meant a 
fissure in the rocky crust of the earth which is filled 
with mineral matter. In Australia a vein is called 
a reef and in California a ledge. 

Beds and layers. The most common of bedded 
2 


18 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

deposits are those of coal. Many kinds of iron ore 
are found in beds, also some copper ores in shale, 
silver and lead ore in sandstone, etc. Beds and 
layers are also known as strata, measures , sills, mines, 
bassets, delfs , girdles. 

Irregular deposits, such as pockets, etc., which lie 
sometimes in various formations. Contact deposits, 
net-work of veins, and where mineral is diffused 
through rocks, or in small cracks. 

Surface deposits. By surface deposits are under¬ 
stood the beds of alluvium which more or less cover 
the face of every country. These beds have been 
chiefly created by various mechanical agents, which, 
after having degraded the higher rocks, carry the 
material which has thus been formed down to lower 
levels. By this process of degradation most mineral 
deposits are so comminuted that by their exposure to 
the atmosphere they are decomposed and destroyed. 
However, substances like cassiterite, platinum, gold, 
etc., not being so readily subject to decomposition, 
have, in consequence, been more or less preserved 
and buried among these superficial deposits. In 
observing deposits of this kind notice has to be taken 
of their general situation, area, thickness and rich¬ 
ness. Often several beds may be ranged one above 
the other, in which case their relative values have 
to be determined. In tracing any particular deposit, 
as, for example, whilst ascending a valley, if the 
particles of ore increase in size and number, the 
prospector may expect that he is approaching their 
common origin. Another indication that he is near 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


19 


this point of origin will be that he shall find the 
mineral less worn. 

Comprehensively speaking, all metals are found 
in the oldest rocks only, and the latter form the 
backbone, so to speak, of the main ranges of metal¬ 
liferous countries. Therefore, the prospector in 
making his road towards the mountains will have 
to select a spot for starting actual operations. For 
this purpose a locality should be chosen where the 
rocks are neither too hard nor too soft, nor should 
they be of too uniform a character. The country 
most deeply indented with gullies, canons and 
gulches running parallel to one another offers the 
best chances of success. The region near the 
sources of the main rivers is generally the richest 
in metals and always the most easily prospected, 
requiring less labor and time in its examination, 
the loose debris and wash being of much lesser 
depth on account of the greater fall in the river and 
creek beds than at other portions of their courses. 

Auriferous lodes are most likely to be met with 
near the headwaters of river systems, and very fre¬ 
quently the alluvial gold begins at or near the 
locality where a number of auriferous lodes exist. 
This is a very common occurrence, and may be in 
the great majority of cases relied upon. 

When a river forks at its head into two or more 
branches, it is strange to say, the source of the gold 
will nearly always be found in the right-hand 
branch, geographically speaking. It may be men¬ 
tioned that in determining the right and left-hand 


20 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

branches or banks of a river or stream, you are 
supposed to stand at the head of the river or stream 
looking towards its mouth or outlet. Amongst 
miners this is very often reversed, and quite a 
number of branches are named left-hand which, 
properly speaking, ought to be right-hand 
branches. 

This right-hand theory is an old mining supersti¬ 
tion for which science has offered no explanation, 
.but the almost unfailing applicability of the theory 
is fully established by practical experience. Speak¬ 
ing of mining superstitions, it may be added that 
the spots upon which the sun shines before noon 
are held by miners to be richest in metal. Every 
old gold miner will pin his faith to this theory. 
What makes these observed facts—for they really 
amount to that—all the more remarkable is, that 
they may be applied with an equal degree of liabil¬ 
ity to the Northern and to the Southern hemispheres, 
which makes these superstitions appear in a para- 
doxial light. However, they have survived the test 
of hundreds of years in Cornwall and on the Conti¬ 
nent of Europe, and have been confirmed by further 
observations in California and Australia. The latter 
instance, i. e. } the spots upon which the sun shines 
before noon, may find an explanation in the fact 
that landslides and elevations of rock of all kinds 
are of more frequent occurrence upon the sunny 
than upon the shady side of valleys, the greater 
amount of disintegration of the rocks leading to a 
greater accumulation of the metals. However this 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


21 


may be, the theory forms one of the golden rules of 
the prospector. 

The color of the rocks also serves as a guide to the 
prospector. Rocks of a pinkish-reddish color alter¬ 
nating with rocks of a deep bluish tint streaked 
with drab are generally very favorable to metallic 
deposits. Another good indication is when the 
faces of the precipices are covered with a black 
ooze caused by manganese, the presence of which 
always indicates a mineralized district. These are 
simply general indications. 

Although color is always a good guide to the 
location of metallic deposits, it is of special service 
to the prospector in unexplored districts. Thus 
copper is indicated by greenish, bluish, or reddish 
stains upon the rocks in the neighborhood of the 
lode; tin and manganese, by dull black tints; 
manganese shows itself also in pinkish streaks. 
Gold, being always accompanied with iron, mani¬ 
fests its presence in red, yellow, or brown shades; 
lead and silver reveal grey or bluish-grey tinges; 
blende dyes the rocks yellowish brown ; and iron 
disports itself in all the hues of red, yellow-brown, 
and even dun-black. 

The wash of rivers and creeks , and even more so 
that deposited upon terraces (if any) flanking the 
streams, must claim the close attention of the pro¬ 
spector. By wash is meant the diluvial drift in 
which gold or tin—the only metals mined in 
diluvial deposits—is found The colors in'connec¬ 
tion with the different metals mentioned above, 


22 prospector's field-book and guide. 

apply also to stones and the wash generally, though 
in a modified degree. Stones streaked with pinkish 
lines, and lines indicating manganese, are always 
found in wash conveying gold. Green stones, which 
are universally found in the wash, are always a 
good indication of gold if they are of a bright sea- 
green or even pea-green, but they must be smooth, 
hard, well-polished and very heavy. In many dis¬ 
tricts such stones are considered the “pilot stones” 
to gold. Quartz stones must be always present in 
goodly numbers in every gold-bearing wash, and if 
they are in a decaying state, they are all the better 
as a favorable indication. 

Indicative 'plants. From very early times it has 
been noticed that the soil overlying mineral veins is 
favored by special vegetation, and though the oc¬ 
currence of such vegetation cannot be taken as an 
infallible indication of the existence of such veins, 
it will be interesting to record the results of past ob¬ 
servations, so that they may serve for a guidance 
to further observation in future. 

Lead. The lead plant (Amorpha canescens) is said 
by prospectors in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, 
to be most abundant in soils overlying the irregular 
deposits of galena in limestones. It is a shrub one to 
three feet high, covered with a hoary down. The 
light blue flowers are borne on long spikes, and the 
leaves are arranged in close pairs on stems, being 
almost devoid of foot stalks. 

Gum trees, or trees with dead tops, as also 
sumac and sassafras, are observed in Missouri to 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


23 


be abundant where “ float” galena is found in the 
clays. 

Iron. A vein of iron ore near Siegen, Germany, 
can be traced for nearly two miles by birch trees 
growing on the outcrop, while the remainder of the 
country is covered with oak and beech. 

Limestone. The beech tree is almost invariably 
prevalent on limestone, and detached groups of 
beech trees have led to discoveries of unsuspected 
beds of limestone. 

Phosphate. The phosphate miners in Estrema- 
dura, Spain, find that the Conolvulus althaeoides, a 
creeping plant with bell-shaped flowers, is a most 
reliable guide to the scattered and hidden deposits 
of phosphorite occurring along the contact of the 
Silurian shales and Devonian dolomite.’ 

Silver. In Montana experienced miners look for 
silver wherever the Eriogonum ovaltfolium flourishes. 
This plant grows in low dense bushes, its small 
leaves coated with thick white down, and its rose- 
colored flowers being borne in clusters on long 
smooth stems. 

Zinc. The “ zinc violet,” Galmeiveilchen or Kel- 
meshlume (Viola calaminaria) of Rhenish Prussia, 
and neighboring parts of Belgium, is there consid¬ 
ered an almost infallible guide to calamine deposits, 
though in other districts it grows where no zinc ore 
has been found. In the sine districts its flowers are 
colored yellow, and zinc has been extracted from 
the plant. The same flower has been noticed at 
zinc mines in Utah. 


24 prospector's field-book and guide. 

In looking for indications where superficial depos¬ 
its are known to occur, the prospector may be often 
guided, like the Tungusians in Northern Siberia, 
who search for gold by first looking at the general 
contour of the country, and observing those places 
where any obstacles, like a projecting range of hills 
would be likely to prevent material from being 
directly washed from higher to lower ground. 
Holes, sudden bends, or anything which would 
cause a diminution in the force of a current of water, 
are points at which it should be expected that heavy 
material like gold or platinum would be likely to 
collect. Although in Australia the most gold is 
generally found in pot holes and behind hard bars, 
it has often been found upon the shallow bends of 
ancient river courses. The lowest of a series of beds 
is generally the richest. In California the gold- 
bearing beds usually consist of gravels, which may 
be cemented to form a conglomerate, sands, bands 
of tuff, clay, fossil-wood, etc. 

Magnetite occurs in alluvial deposits. Bog iron 
and manganese ore which have accumulated by 
precipitation in marshy places or in lakes usually 
contain too much impurity to be of commercial 
value. Stream tin occurs in gravels in much the 
same way as gold. 

In examining a lode, the nature of the various 
minerals it contains and the proportions which 
these hold to each other should be observed. Some¬ 
times it will be noticed that certain groups of min¬ 
erals are often found together, the presence of one 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


25 


being favorable to the existence of the other. At 
other times the reverse will be remarked, the exist¬ 
ence of one mineral being the sign of the absence of 
another. The practical advantages to be derived 
from a series of observations indicating such results 
are too obvious to be overlooked. 

The following table, showing the association of 
ore in metalliferous veins, is given by Phillips and 
Von Cotta : 


Two Members. 


Galena, blende. 


{ 


Iron pyrites, chalcopy- 
rites. 


Gold, quartz. 


Cobalt and nickel 


ores. 


Tin ore, wolfram. 


{ 


Gold, tellurium. 


Cinnabar, tetrahedrite. 


Magnetite, chlorite. 


Three Members. 

Galena, blende, iron 
pyrites (silver ores). 


Iron pyrites, cbalcopy- 
rite, quartz (copper 
ores). 


Gold, quartz, iron py¬ 
rites. 


Cobalt and nickel ores, 
and iron pyrites. 


Tin ore, wolfram, 
quartz. 

Gold, tellurium, tetra¬ 
hedrite (various tel¬ 
lurium ores). 

Cinnabar, tetrahedrite, 
pyrites (various ores 
of quicksilver). 

Magnetite, chlorite, 
garnet. 


Four or More Mevibers. 

[ Galena, blende, iron pyri¬ 
tes, quartz and spathic 
-( iron, diallogite, brown 
spar, calc spar or heavy 
l spar. 

[ Iron pyrites, clialcopyrite, 
galena, blende; and 

spathic iron, diallogite 
brown spar, calc spar; 
or heavy spar, 
r Gold, quartz, iron pyrites, 
galena, blende; and 

spathic iron, diallogite; 
brown spar, calc spar, 
or heavy spar- 
j- Cobalt and nickel ores, 
iron pyrites; and galena, 
blende, quartz, spathic 
iron ore, diallogite, 
brown spar; calc spar; 
^ or heavy spar, 
f Tin ore, wolfram, quartz, 
\ mica,tourmaline, topaz, 
[ etc. 

I" Gold, tellurium, tetrahe- 
j drite, quartz, and brown 

I spar; or calc spar. 

f Cinnabar,tellurium, tetra¬ 
hedrite, pyrites, quartz; 
and spathic iron, diallc- 
gite, brown spai, calc 
„ spar; or heavy spar. 

| Magnetite, chlorite, gar- 
net, pyroxene, liorn- 
( blende, pyrites, etc. 





26 prospector’s field-book and guide.. 


The Blow-pipe. 

A great deal can be learnt respecting a mineral 
by a few simple trials with the blow-pipe, and every 
prospector should learn to use it. The only re¬ 
quirements are a plain brass blow-pipe about 7 to 
10 inches long, a candle, a forceps or pliers, a piece 
of platinum wire, dried carbonate of soda, dried 
borax and cyanide of potassium. The charcoal 
selected for these experiments should be free from 
cracks and openings. By dry carbonate of soda is 
meant not merely dry to the touch, but quite free 
from water; this may be prepared from common 
washing-soda by expelling the water which it con¬ 
tains. Put the washing-soda in a shallow, clean 
iron dish, and place it over a clear fire until a white 
dry powder is formed ; avoid too strong a heat, 
otherwise the dry powder might fuse. A quarter of 
an ounce may be kept in a well-corked bottle or 
tube for use. Bicarbonate of soda may be used in¬ 
stead without previous heating, or if the bicarbonate 
be moderately heated it loses weight, and becomes 
carbonate of soda, quite free from water, like the 
above. 

The borax is to be dried in the same way ; a 
quarter of an ounce will be enough. It is conven¬ 
ient to keep the platinum wire in the same tube. 
Unless these tubes are well corked, these chemicals 
reabsorb moisture. For testing tin ore it is useful 
to have a little cyanide of potassium kept in a bottle, 
with the cork and rim well covered with melted 
beeswax ; it would otherwise liquefy by absorption 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


27 


of moisture and become useless. It is a most dan¬ 
gerous poison, and the greatest caution must be ob¬ 
served in its use. 

The blow-pipe should have a fine jet, or aperture, 
wide enough to admit of a fine needle. The mode 
of using it may be readily acquired by first breath¬ 
ing through the nostrils with the lips closed, then 
puffing out the cheeks (as if rinsing the mouth with 
water), still keeping the lips closed, and breathing 
as before. The blow-pipe ma}- at this point be 
slipped between the lips, and it will be found that a 
current af air escapes through it without any effort 
on the part of the operator. Air flows through the 
pipe owing to the tendency of the distended cheeks 
to collapse; it must never be forced from the lungs. 
After a little practice the strength of the current 
may be increased. By breathing entirely through 
the nostrils, keeping the lips closed, the blast may 
be kept up for ten minutes or longer without ex¬ 
haustion or inconvenience, except a slight fatigue 
of the lips in holding the blow-pipe. The beginner 
may practice blowing upon a piece of charcoal. 
The charcoal should, for convenience sake, be cut 
into slices of some six inches long by three-quarters 
to an inch wide and half inch thick. Place a piece 
of lead, or a pin-head, or fragment of pyrite (iron 
pyrites), near the end of the charcoal, and learn to 
blow the flame of a candle to a point upon the 
object. However awkward the blow-pipe may feel 
at first, practice will soon enable the learner to be 
expert. At first it may be necessary to gouge a 


28 


prospector’s field-book and guide. 


small hole or recess in the coal with the point of 
your pen-knife, in order to prevent the specimen 
from being blown away. But after many trials 
such a command will be had over the blast that the 
hole may be made sufficiently deep by simply turn¬ 
ing the point of the flame upon the coal and burn¬ 
ing out a cavity. 

Study the two colors of a sperm candle flame 
(Fig. 5). Notice that there is a yellow flame out¬ 
side and nearer the top, and then within the flame 
there may be seen a bluish, probably a true blue 
flame. These flames act differently on the same 
substance. The outer 0 F, or yellow flame, is 


Fig. 5. 



A, the blue or reducing flame; B, the oxidizing flame; C, the end of blow-pipe. 



By placing the end of blow-pipe in the fljinie thus, the oxidizing flame, A , is 
made more efficient. 


called the “oxidizing flame” the inner the “reducing 
flame,” Ii F or I F. By blowing properly, these 



















PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


29 


two flames may be made to turn horizontally, or 
even downward, and then either the 0 flame or the 
R flame may be turned on the “ assay ” (as the ob¬ 
ject on the charcoal may be called). Get a piece of 
iron ore as large as a pin-head and place it in a 
little cavity on the charcoal, then cover it with a 
quantity of soda carbonate as large as the assay. 
Now turn the R flame down on the soda and ore, 
and in a few seconds the ore will melt and be re¬ 
duced to metallic iron, and your magnetized knife- 
blade will pick it and the soda up. In this experi¬ 
ment a piece of red or brown hematite, or a piece of 
pyrite (iron pyrites), should be used, as neither will 
be attracted by the knife-blade before the ore is re¬ 
duced to metallic iron. The reason for this action 
on the part of the ore is that the ore is metallic iron 
combined with oxygen , and the R or blue flame calls 
for more oxygen than it possesses, so that when it is 
turned upon the hot oxide of iron it takes the 
oxygen it calls for, from the ore and leaves the iron 
in a metallic state. But in the pyrite, which is iron 
and sulphur, the latter is partially driven off by 
either flame; and this process, on a larger scale, is 
called “roasting.” The soda absorbs a part of the 
sulphur and part remains in the iron, but not so 
much but that the magnetized knife-blade will at¬ 
tract it. The last experiment is good for experi¬ 
mental practice, but not for illustrating the two 
properties of the flame. 

The following is an excellent illustration and 
practice in showing the characteristic power of either 


30 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

flame. Get some platinum wire of the size of a 
large horse-hair. Wrap it around a match, leaving 
an end extending an inch and a half beyond the 
match end, then roll the end of the wire around 
another match until you have bent the end of the 
wire into a small loop (Fig. 6). Prepare a little 
powder of common borax, and then, heating the 
wire loop in the general flame, plunge it quickly 
into the powdered borax. It will immediately pick 
up a quantity of the powder, and then, by turning 
the flame upon the borax, you will have a clear and 

Fig. G. 

A 

rizonuzni n n -° 

Appearance and size of wire and loop, A . 

perfectly transparent bead filling the little loop on 
the end of the wire. You are now ready for the 
experiment of illustrating the special properties of 
the two flames, which we shall now describe. 

Obtain some black oxide of manganese, from any 
druggist, and dropping a little upon a clean sheet 
of letter paper, heat your borax bead red-hot in the 
flame and quickly touch with the hot bead a parti¬ 
cle of the black oxide—it will stick to the bead— 
then turn the outer or 0 flame upon the bead and 
blow till the particle of oxide of manganese has en¬ 
tirely dissolved—it will impart to the bead a beauti¬ 
ful amethystine-purple. Now turn the inner flame, 
that is, the R flame, upon the bead, and in a few 




PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


31 


seconds (according to skill in keeping the R flame 
steadily on the bead) the color will disappear, but it 
will return when the 0 flame is used again. 

These efforts will give practice, ending in suffi¬ 
cient skill to enable the learner to use the blow-pipe 
as directed in the future parts of this work. 

The various reactions of different substances are 
given in the body of this book as they are called for 
when the substances are described. 

A glass tube of a little less than three-eighths of an 
inch in diameter may be made into a blow-pipe as 
follows: Take a piece of such a tube, ten or twelve 
inches long, soften the tube by red heat in an alco¬ 
hol flame, and draw it out to a small diameter— 
cool and scratch or file it at the smallest diameter 
—break it off, introduce the tube into the flame 
again and bend the glass to a right angle, about 
two inches off from the point—cool gradually—and 
heat the mouth end, opening it a little by introduc¬ 
ing a small dry pine stick, cool it, and you have a 
very efficient blow-pipe when another of metal can¬ 
not be had. 

Note: If your platinum loop will not hold the 
borax bead, then it is too large. Make a smaller 
loop. If it is dimmed or blackened by smoke, heat 
it red-hot—it will clear up. 

The three principal means of chemically testing 
minerals before the blowpipe are (1) with borax; 
(2) on charcoal, usually with the addition of car¬ 
bonate of soda; (3) by holding in the oxidizing 
point. 


32 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

In connection with this the following experiments 
given by Alexander M. Thomson, D. Sc., are of in¬ 
terest : 

Experiment No. 1 .—Many metals impart a color 
to fused borax, by which their presence can be 
recegnized. To try this experiment, a bead of 
fused borax must first be obtained on the platinum 
wire. The end of the wire is bent into a loop or 
ring about the twelfth part of an inch in diameter. 
The wire is then heated in the blow-pipe flame, and 
dipped whilst hot into the borax ; the portion of 
borax that adheres is then fused on to the wire in 
the blow-pipe flame, and the hot wire is again 
dipped; this is repeated until the loop contains a 
glass-like bead of borax. If the bead has become 
cloudy, the soot causing this may be burnt off in 
the oxidizing point of the flame. Having thus ob¬ 
tained a clear, colorless, transparent bead, the next 
step is to add to it a minute portion of the mineral 
which is to be tested. By touching a little of the 
finely-pulverized mineral with the borax bead, while 
softened by heat, enough will adhere to the bead for 
a first trial. The bead is then kept at a white heat 
in the oxidizing point of the flame for a few seconds, 
and on removal its color is noted, both whilst hot 
and when cold. If no color is imparted, a fresh 
trial may be made with a larger quantity of the 
powder; but if the bead is opaque owing to the 
depth of color, as is often the case, a fresh experi¬ 
ment must be made, using a still smaller quantity 
of the powder. The color can only fairly be judged 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


33 


in a perfectly transparent bead. If no color can be 
obtained in the oxidizing point, further 5 experiment 
with the borax bead is needless; but if a color is 
obtained, it is then advisable to try the effect of the 
reducing flame upon the same bead. The following 
observations and inferences may result from this 
test: 


COLOR OF BEAD IN 

Oxidizing. Reducing. Presence of. 

Green (hot); blue (cold) . . Red.Copper. 

Blue (hot and cold) .... Blue.Cobalt. 

Amethyst . . .Colorless.Manganese. 

Green.Green.Chromium. 

Red or yellow (hot) . . . 

Yellow or colorless (cold) 

Violet (hot); Red-brown 

(cold).Gray and turbid, 

difficult to obtain . Nickel. 


>■ Bottle-green 


. Iron. 


This mode of testing may often be used to prove 
the presence of the above-mentioned metals. 

It requires some practice before reliable results 
can be obtained in reducing. The reduced bead if 
brought out of the flame at a white heat, into the 
air, may at once oxidize ; but this may be prevented 
by placing it inside the dark inner cone of an ordi¬ 
nary candle flame, and allowing it to cool partially 
there. 

Experiment No. 2 .—The mode of testing with car¬ 
bonate of soda on charcoal, is performed as follows : 
A sound piece of charcoal half an inch square is 
chosen, and a neat cavity is scooped out on its 
surface, into which is placed a mixture containing 
3 









34 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

the pulverized mineral to be tested, with three or 
four parts of carbonate of soda, the whole not ex¬ 
ceeding the bulk of a pea. After lightly pressing 
the mixture into the cavity, the blow-pipe flame 
may be cautiously applied to it; and afterwards 
when the mixture no longer shows a tendency to 
fly off, the charcoal may be advanced nearer to the 
blow-pipe, and finally be kept at as high a tempera¬ 
ture as possible, in the reducing part of the flame. 

In testing for tin ore, a piece of cyanide of potas¬ 
sium, about the size of a pea, may be placed upon 
the mixture after the first application of heat, and 
the further application of heat may then be con¬ 
tinued. 

This treatment is designed to extract metals from 
minerals; it favors in the highest degree the re¬ 
moval of oxygen. But like the borax test, it is 
limited in its application, as it can only be used to 
detect certain metals. The failure of the test in any 
case must not be looked upon as a conclusive proof 
of the absence of the particular metal sought; for 
instance, copper can be easily extracted from car¬ 
bonate of copper by this test, but not from copper 
pyrites. Still the test is a most valuable and indis¬ 
pensable one to the minerolagist. The test is com¬ 
plete when the metal is obtained as a globule, in 
the cavity of the charcoal. In many cases the 
globule will be found surrounded by the oxide of 
the metal, forming an incrustation on the charcoal; 
and the color of such incrustation should be carefully 
noted, both at the moment of removal from the 


PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION. 


35 


flame, and after cooling. By pressing the globule 
between smooth and hard surfaces, it can be deter¬ 
mined whether the metal is flattened out (or malle¬ 
able), or crushed to pieces (brittle). 

The following observations and inferences may 
result from this test: 


Globule. Incrustation. Presence of. 

Yellow, malleable . None.Gold. 

White, malleable. . None.Silver. 

Red, malleable . . None.Copper. 

White, malleable. . White.Tin. 


White, malleable. . Red (hot); Yellow (cold). . Lead. 
White, brittle . . Red (hot); Yellow (cold). . Bismuth. 

None. Yellow (hot); White (cold). Zinc. 

White, brittle, giv¬ 
ing off* fumes when 
removed from the 

flame.White . . .Antimony. 

Experiment No. 3 .—In addition to these substances 
there are others which occur abundantly in minerals, 
and which may be recognized by the blow-pipe with 
the greatest ease ; for instance, sulphur and arsenic. 
These may be discovered by heating a fragment of 
the mineral, supported on a piece of charcoal or 
held in a forceps in the oxidizing point of the 
flame, and comparing the odor which is given off. 
A smell of burning sulphur indicates that the min¬ 
eral contains that substance, and white fumes hav¬ 
ing a garlic odor indicate the presence of arsenic. 

Mercury, antimony, and other substances may 
escape as fumes when heated in this manner. 








CHAPTER II. 


CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 

The forms which many minerals assume always 
indicate their composition. It is, therefore, some¬ 
times a great help to the prospector to become ac¬ 
quainted with the subject of crystallography so far 
as to enable him to determine the system or order 
to which a crystal belongs. 

We shall treat of the subject only so far as may 
be of practical application to the purposes of the 
prospector in the search for the useful minerals. 

It is necessary to understand that nearly all 
mineral substances, when they appear in the crys¬ 
talline condition, assume a characteristic form and 
do not trespass upon that of other minerals; al¬ 
though, to the unaided eye and unskilled vision, 
this assertion may appear to be a mistake in some 
few cases ; it appears so only because the differences 
are exceedingly small. 

All crystalline forms have been reduced to six 
classes or systems, which are named as follows: I. 
Isometric; II. Tetragonal; III. Hexagonal; IV. Or¬ 
thorhombic ; V. Monoclinic ; VI. Triclinic. 

I. Isometric system. The principal forms of this 
system are the cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, the 
(36) 


CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 


37 


two trisoctahedrons, the tetrahexahedron, and the 
hexoctahedron. 

The cube has six equal and square sides, as in 
Fig. 7. In this form lines drawn from the centre 
of each face to the face opposite, cross each other at 
right angles , and are of the same length. 

This system is called isometric , that is, iso equal , 
and metric measure, because these axes or lines are 
of equal length and at right angles to each other. 
It must, however, be remembered that the cube is 
modified in some minerals, but wherever these modi¬ 
fications take place the original form of the cube 
may always be traced. Some of the changes may 
be very intricate, and these especially unusual or in¬ 
tricate forms we shall not notice. The usual forms 
only are of importance, and can be treated of in so 
small a work as this. 

The learner should take a potato and cut as per¬ 
fect a cube as possible, and make himself acquainted 
with the common variations which may belong to 
the cube, as we shall show, with¬ 
out changing the length of the FlG ' '• 
axis, and always cutting so that \ A ] \ 
the axis will always be the same c \j j ^ 
or of equal lengths. j\(*j 

Fig. 7 is the cube with the three \" \ 

axes A A', B B ’, C C '. If, with The cube, 
your knife, you slice off one edge 
angle from A to C ' and from A to C, and in like 
manner from A to B' and from A to B, you will 
have a four-sided pyramid, the apex of which will 


Fig. 7. 





C \ 1 j 


.KcT 

\ 

... 


The Cube. 





38 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


be at A and the four-sided base at C B', C' B , or 
around one-half the cube. Now, treat the opposite 
side in the same way, and you will then have the 
following figure, which is the octahedron (Fig. 8). 

The dodecahedron (12 sides), Fig. 9, may be 
formed by taking off the solid angles A, B, B ', A '. 
In all three cases and many others, the three axes 
remain the same in length and in their angular 
direction where the forms have not been distorted. 


Fig. 8. 

A 



Fig. 9. 



The Dodecahedron. 


II. Tetragonal system. The chief forms of this 
system are the two square prisms and pyramids, 
and the eight-sided prism and double eight-sided 
pyramid. 

The tetragonal system has also three axes as in 
the isometric, and they are at right angles to each 
other, but the vertical axis is longer than the others, 
as in Fig. 10. 

The term tetragonal means “ four-cornered or an¬ 
gled,” and is not precise, for a cube is tetragonal, 
but it is used to express this form because it is one 
word; otherwise “ square prismatic” would be a 
more correct description, since Fig. 10 is that of a 





CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 


39 


prism ; for in mineralogy any crystal having paral¬ 
lelograms for sides is called a prism. Cut this 
prism as in the case of the cube, and you will have 
the form seen in Fig. 11. 

Variations upon this form may show a prism with 
four-sided termination at either or both ends, as in 
Fig. 12. This is the form of the transparent gem 
called the zircon, anciently called the jacinth. The 
zircon has been mistaken for the diamond, which it 
resembles in brilliancy, and somewhat in hardness. 
But the diamond is isometric and never tetragonal, 


Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. 



Tetragonal Prism. Tetragonal Octahedron. The Zircon. 


and hence it may be distinguished readily from the 
zircon. 

III. Hexagonal system. The chief forms of this 
system are the two six-sided prisms, the two double 
six-sided pyramids, and the twelve-sided prism and 
double twelve-sided pyramid. It differs from the 
tetragonal system in that it has three equal lateral 
axes instead of two; the vertical being at right 
angles, as in Fig. 13, with each of the three lateral. 

But it must be remembered that the hexagonal 











40 


PROSPECTOR'S FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


crystal always calls for hexagonal terminations; 
thus Figs. 14 and 15. 

Owing to various causes in nature, the hexagonal 
crystal always calls for hexagonal terminations; 
thus Figs. 14 and 15. 

Owing to various causes in nature, the hexagonal 
crystal may be found under various modifications 
of the hexagonal form, but it can always be reduced 
to this system. The symmetry of the crystals may 
be by sixes, or very rarely, by cutting each angle 
it may be in twelves, or the sides may be unequal 
in area or length, as in Fig. 14. The author once 
found a quartz crystal in Switzerland which was, for 
nearly its entire length, three-sided, but showed its 
hexagonal nature only at the extremity, where, hav- 


Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. 15. 



Hexagonal Prism. Quartz Crystals—Hexagonal. 


ing been free from its confinement in process of for¬ 
mation, it had assumed its normal crystallization. 
As we have said in another place, calcite crystals 
sometimes assume an hexagonal prism precisely as 
does quartz, but the latter shows always six-sided 
terminations, whereas lime or calcite crystals show 
three-sided terminations, as in Figs. 16 and 17. 


















CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 


41 


There are two sections or forms of this system, the 
hexagonal and the rhombohedral; both belonging to 
the hexagonal system, and distinguished as we have 
shown. 

These calcite crystals belong to the rhombohedral 
section of the hexagonal system, showing rhombo¬ 
hedral forms at the end, as in Fig. 11. 


Fig. 16. 


Fig. 17. 




Calcite hexagonal crystals—three-sided 
termination. Side view. 


The same—end view. 


IV. Orthorhombic system. The characteristic 
forms of this system are the rhombic prism and 
pyramid. There are also other forms called domes. 
In this system the three axes are unequal and in¬ 
tersect at right angles, as in Fig. 18, wherein the 
axes A, B, C, are unequal in length, but at right 
angles at the intersection. The terminations are 
flat, although frequently beveled on the surround¬ 
ing edges. 

V. Monoclinic system. The monoclinic forms 
are too difficult to be fully described here, but it is 
not hard to learn what is most essential about them. 
In this system two of the axial intersections are at 









42 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


right angles; but one is oblique, and the side of 
the crystal is inclined as in Fig. 19. 


Fig. 19. 


Fig. 18. 



A 



Crystals of feldspar in general which contain 
potash (called orthoclase or potash feldspar), are 
monoclinic, but the soda feldspar crystals belong to 
the next or sixth system, as do also the lime feld¬ 
spars. 

Triclinic or 11 thrice inclined ” system. In this 
system the planes are referred to three unequal 
axes all oblique to each other. The only import¬ 
ant feature in this system is that there is no right 
angle in any of its crystals ; but it is of little use for 
our purposes, since with the exception of the lime 
feldspar and soda-lime feldspars (anorthite or lime 
feldspar, labradorite or lime-soda feldspars, andesite, 
and oligoclase, both soda-lime feldspars, and albite, a 
soda feldspar), all the rest are of little importance, 
except microcline, a new potash feldspar. 

As ILLUSTRATIONS OF THESE SYSTEMS tile follow¬ 
ing majr be stated : 












CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 


43 


Of the isometric system, or first system, are gold, 
silver, platinum, amalgam, copper, the diamond, 
garnet, magnetite, pyrite, galena, alum, kalinite, all 
of which assume the cubic octahedral, or some allied 
form. 

Of the tetragonal, or second system, are the zir¬ 
con, chalco pyrite, cassiterite (tin ore), titanic oxide, 
and others. 

Of the hexagonal, or third system, are beryl, 
aquamarine, the emerald, chrysoberyl, apatite (lime- 
phosphate), quartz. 

Of the orthorhombic, or fourth system, are, 
barite or sulphate of barytes, celestite, or sulphate 
of strontia, and carbonate of strontia, also cerussite 
or lead carbonate. 

Of the monoclinic, or fifth system, are, borax, 
gypsum, glauber salt (mirabilite is its mineralogical 
name), copperas (or melanterite). 

Of the sixth system we have already given suffi¬ 
cient illustrations. 

Of the gems not mentioned in the above, the tur- 
quois owes its blue to copper, and is never crystal¬ 
lized, being in reniform or stalactitic conditions. It 
is a phosphate of alumina with water in composi¬ 
tion. This mineral or gem should be carefully 
distinguished from lazulite, which, though blue, 
crystallizes in the monoclinic, or fifth system ; it is a 
softer mineral and contains considerable magnesia, 
lime, and iron, of which (except a very small 
amount of iron), the true turquois contains none. 
The latter is the gem, and may be beautifully pol- 


44 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

ished, and keeps its color, which is due to copper. 
Lazulite is found in beautiful crystals at Crowder’s 
Mount, in Lincoln Co., N. C.; also fifty miles north 
of Augusta, at Graves’s Mount, in Lincoln Co., 
Georgia. 

Both these should also be distinguished from 
lapis lazuli, which also crystallizes, but in the 
isometric or first system, though commonly massive 
and compact. This is valuable in the arts, and 
when powdered forms the ultramarine , a rich and 
durable paint. It is a silicate of alumina, but con¬ 
tains some lime and iron. It is used also for costly 
vases. But the artificially prepared ultramarine is 
largely used in the arts. The native mineral is 
found in syenite and in metamorphic crystalline 
limestone, associated with pyrite and mica. 

The topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic sec¬ 
tion of the hexagonal or fourth system. The finest 
are generally in prismatic form, showing a flat plane 
at the extreme end, even when the end of the 
crystal has several inclined faces. It is a silicate of 
alumina with fluorine. The fluorine may be de¬ 
tected before the blow-pipe in the open tube by 
powdering a little of the topaz and mixing it with a 
little microcosmic salt (a salt of phosphorus), The 
heat of the blow-pipe will let free the fluorine, and 
its strong pungent smell, and its corrosion of the 
tube, will prove its presence. With the cobalt 
(nitrate) solution on charcoal, it gives a fine blue 
color in proof of alumina. This is the best test of 
the topaz, as the color of the mineral is not always 


CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 


45 


the same, nor is it always perfectly transparent. It 
is found at Crowder’s Mount, already spoken of, and 
also in Thomas’s Mountains,, in Utah, near lat. 39° 
40' and long. 113J° W. west of south of Salt Lake 
(Dana). In Trumbull, Conn., the crystals are 
abundant, but not very transparent. 

Meteoric Iron has been reported from North 
Carolina as found native in a partial crystal of the 
isometric form, and several meteoric masses from 
Arizona have been reported at the Geological Section 
at Washington, D. C., September, 1891, as contain¬ 
ing black diamonds, small but interesting. 

Meteorites are less pure than native iron, the iron 
in them being almost invariably associated with 
nickel, and they also contain traces of cobalt, cop¬ 
per and other metals. In the many specimens ex¬ 
amined, the iron ranges from 67 to 94 per cent., 
and the nickel from 6 to 24. Their masses gener¬ 
ally range from a few pounds in weight to a ton or 
more. If cut, and the surface is polished, and then 
acted upon by nitric acid, a kind of etching action 
goes on, the acid acting on spaces between bands of 
untouched metal which cross the mass in two or 
three directions, and in these the nickel is more 
abundant than in other parts, for it is not equally 
diffused in the alloy. 

Ruby and Sapphire. These crystallize in the 
rhombohedral form. 

The garnet is sometimes mistaken for the East 
Indian ruby, which is the most precious variety, 
but the garnet is isometric , and even when cut and 


46 prospector's field-book and guide. 

mounted may be distinguished from the oriental 
ruby by the superior hardness of the ruby, the latter 
being next to the diamond, while the garnet is only 
as hard as quartz, or not quite so hard. So that a 
garnet of the most precious kind if worn will, under 
the strong lens, show the lines of wear, especially on 
the edges, which are absent in the true oriental 
ruby. Oriental garnets are frequently confounded 
with rubies by jewelers in Paris as well as in 
America. So lately as October 3, 1891, two oriental 
garnets worth about $20 each were found to be set 
in a diamond ring as oriental rubies, for which the 
sum of $2,000 was paid. The firm in Paris ac¬ 
knowledged the mistake, and refunded the $2,000. 
The oriental ruby is essentially pure alumina, while 
the oriental or precious garnet is a silicate of alum¬ 
ina with lime and a little iron. 

All these gems are found in the crystalline rocks, 
as granites, gneiss, dolomite, and some (topaz, ruby) 
associated with tourmaline, tin ores, mica, etc., and 
the crystalline lime-stones. The true turquois is 
found in Persia in the clay slates in veins running 
in every direction. Very good specimens have been 
found in Arizona and New Mexico; also in Colo¬ 
rado in the Holy Cross Mining district, thirty miles 
from Leadville. 


CHAPTER III. 


SURVEYING. 


There are a few simple measurements which are 
sometimes desirable, and which can be made with¬ 
out the labor of carrying instruments and chains. 
The actual work of surveying, to be of any value to 
the prospector, must be so accurately performed that 
the work should be entered upon as a specialty, and 
he must use a theodolite or transit and make use of 
logarithms. Any small work on surveying or 
trigonometry will give sufficient information.* 

Some few measurements, however, and simple 
surveys with easy methods, are given here to meet 
cases where only a general approximation is re¬ 
quired. 

TO MEASURE HEIGHTS WHICH ARE INACCESSIBLE. 

Any height of tower, stand-pipe, tree, etc., may be 
measured approximately by knowing your own 
height and taking advantage of sunlight, thus: 

*For this purpose we would recommend the following 
book: The Practical Surveyor’s Guide. By Andrew Duncan. 
A new, revised and greatly enlarged edition. Illustrated 
by 72 engravings. Philadelphia, Henry Carey Baird & Co., 
J899. Price, $1.50. 


( 47 ) 


• 48 


prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Let A B, Fig. 20, be the height of the object to 
be measured. The dotted line is the shadow cast. 
Walk off into the sunlight and note on the ground 
the point at which your own shadow terminates; 
measure from the heel to that point. A calcu¬ 
lation in single “ rule of three” will give A B thus : 


O B' : B' A' : : B C : A B. 

Heights of hills or land may be nearly enough 
measured by the aneroid barometer, the instructions 
in the use of which go with the instrument, or may 
be obtained with it, and approximately accurate 
aneroids may be had small enough to go into the 
side pocket, or still more accurate ones may be 
easily carried in a case held by a small strap around 
the shoulders. For hills under 2000 feet, the fol- 


Fig. 20. 



lowing rule will give a very close approximation, 
and is easily remembered, because 55°, the assumed 
temperature, agrees with 55°, the significant figures 
in the 55,000 factor, while the fractional correction 
contains two fours. 




SURVEYING. 


49 


Observe the altitudes and also the temperatures 
on the Fahrenheit thermometer, at top and bottom 
respectively of the hill, and take the mean between 
them. Let B represent the mean altitude and b the 

B- b 

mean temperature. Then 5500 x ^— height 

of the hill in feet for the temperature of 55°. Add 
of this result for every degree the mean temper¬ 
ature exceeds 55°; or subtract as much for every 
degree below 55°. 

TO MEASURE AREAS. 

Theoretically, it is very easy to “step off lines,” 
but practically it is very difficult thus to arrive at 
accuracy on uneven land. But where one is ac¬ 
quainted with the exact average measurement of 
his step on level land he may reach some approxi¬ 
mate accuracy on uneven land by remembering 
that in ascending, even slightly, his average de¬ 
creases, and vice versa in descending. A good strong 
tape measure, kept on a level in ascending and de¬ 
scending hills, is more convenient and more easily 
handled than a chain. 

1. On square areas the length of the side multi¬ 
plied into that of the adjacent side gives the area. 

2. In the parallelogram, where all angles are 
right angles, the same is true. 

3. In any other shapes the following rules are to 
be observed : 

4 


50 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


First: Measure the area of FiCt ' 21 ' 

a right-angled triangle thus: 

Let B, Fig. 21, be the right- 
angle ; the area of A B C is 
equal to the length, B C 
multiplied into half the per¬ 
pendicular distance, A B. 

Example: B C =100 ft.; 
therefore, if A B = 90 ft., 100 X 45 = 4500 sq. ft. = 
area of A B C. 



The same rule applies when the triangle is not a 
right-angled triangle; thus, the angle at A, Fig. 22, 
being obtuse. 


Fig. 22. 


A 



D C= 150 ft., A B = 90 ft., multiply 150 ft. by 
one-half A B = 45 ft., and we have 6750 sq. ft., for 
A C IJ is composed of two right-angled triangles, 
A C B and A B D, as in the previous example. 


Fig. 23. 









SURVEYING. 


51 


Or, when the triangle has an acute angle at A, 
Fig. 23, thus: Treat precisely as in Fig. 22, cnly 
letting the perpendicular fall from D upon A C, 
that is, invert the triangle. 

The cases wherein the sides are more than three 
are treated by resolving all such areas into right- 
angled triangles, thus: 

In Fig. 24, the area, A C D B may be resolved 
into two triangles, A C B, and C D B, of which A 
B is the base of the one and C B that of the other. 
In Fig. 25, the area, A C 1) B E K, may be re¬ 
solved into the four triangles, A C D, A D B, 
ABE and A E K. The perpendiculars of Fig. 24 
are, E D and C F. Those of Fig. 25, are, C H, 
IB, F E, and K G, and the length of bases may 
be multiplied into half that of the perpendiculars, 
as in the case already given, and the feet be re¬ 
duced to acres, rods, etc., or miles. 

Fig. 24. 


C 



For the number of square feet in an acre, etc., see 



52 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Appendix No. 3, and treat it thus: Suppose the 
area of Fig. 25 he 80,000 sq. ft., then, according to 


Fig. 25. 
C 



Table No. 3, it will be 1 acre, 3 rods, 13 poles, 25 
yards, 7 feet, or 1.836 + acre. 

TO MEASURE AN INACCESSIBLE LINE. 

Suppose we desire to measure the distance across 
a river, as in Fig. 26. 

We want to find the distance A B. Measure a 
distance of about 100 ft, B D, at right angles to 
A B, and raise a pole at C, about half-way from B to 
D. Proceed in measuring at right angles to B D, in 
the direction D E, letting E be that point at which 
the line C E , if extended, would strike A. Now 
you have two right-angled triangles of the same 
angles, for, as every triangle has two right angles 
according to geometry, and each of these triangles 



SURVEYING. 


53 


has one right angle, and the opposite angles at C 
are equal according to geometry, the remaining 
Fig. 26. 



angles at A and E are equal, and the triangles are 
proportional, and the proportion is— 


CD : D E : : C B : A B. 

then, if C D=A0 ft., D E= 45 ft., and C B=6 0, we 
know that 45 x 60=2700, divided by (CD) 40 ft.= 
67J ft. ; this is for A B, or the distance across the 
river. 

Fig. 27. 















54 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

The only difficulty is in measuring your angles 
as true right angles, and this may be done by meas¬ 
uring the perpendicular, thus— 

Extend the line A B, Fig. 26, to F, Fig. 27, and 
likewise the line D E, Fig. 26, to C, as in Fig. 27. 
Now measure equal distances on the line B D, for 
the lines or offsets, B C and B H; also from D C, 
the offsets D I and D K; drive sticks in at G, H, 
I, and K. See that the distances represented by the 
dotted lines are equal, and if so the lines ABF 
and D C are perpendicular to the line G K, and 
your work will be well done and very nearly ac¬ 
curate. 

It is, however, well for the prospector to use a 
prism compass which will read to one-quarter de¬ 
gree. Such a compass may be had at very low rate, 
not more than three inches diameter, of light 
weight and of sufficient accuracy. The author has 
used one for many years, and traveled with it 
many thousands of miles in Asia and Africa, and 
can testify to the fact that by customary use it may 
be handled to a great degree of accuracy for hori¬ 
zontal angles. The needle is attached to the under 
side of a cord with steel engraved degrees and frac¬ 
tions, and read by a magnifying prism. 

In almost every conceivable surveying project, 
especially in running adits and sinking shafts to 
strike adits and galleries, only the best instruments 
should be used. Everything depends upon the 
most accurate measurements, and this department 
of engineering is not one that can be treated approx- 


SURVEYING. 


55 


imately, because any error in measurement may 
result in very provoking and expensive mistakes. 

We have presented all that is necessary on surface 
measurements, except where it becomes necessary to 
make such accurate proceedings as may only be ex¬ 
ecuted by use of the finest instruments, and that 
with considerable practice. Otherwise accurate 
mathematical tables are of little importance, as 
their use is based upon the presence of most accur¬ 
ate data, and without this the best methods and 
diagrams are in vain. 

The subject of mining engineering does not come 
within the range of our work, and for all mere ex¬ 
ploring as a prospector such ground-work or digging 
for examination as is necessary will readily suggest 
itself to any intelligent workman. 


CHAPTER IV. 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 

Preliminary examinations may be made at 
first with the pocket lens and a piece of steel or a 
heavy-bladed pocket-knife. The first, to see if any 
native metals or any sulphides, etc., are present; 
the second, to try the softness or silicious nature of 
the mineral; if much quartz (silex) is present it will 
strike fire. 

Pulverize a small part and use the blow-pipe to 
detect sulphur, arsenic, silenium, by the smell on 
charcoal or in the glass tube. Arsenic fumes have 
a garlic odor, silenium that of horse-radish. 

Use a test tube with a little nitric acid and heat 
over a spirit flame. Add a few drops of water and 
one drop of sulphocyanide of potash—an intense 
deep red appears, deeper according to amount of 
iron and solvency of the mineral in nitric acid. 

Try another portion in the same way, but drop 
one drop of hydrochloric acid. A dense curdy 
white precipitate indicates silver. 

Native gold or silver is determined by color 
and softness, as we have elsewhere stated {see Index). 

Treat another portion in the same way with nitric 
( 56 ) 



ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


57 


acid, drop in several drops of strong ammonia water. 
The blue color indicates copper. 

Antimony and tin are detected by the blow-pipe. 
Place the former upon charcoal with carbonate of 
soda, and brilliant metallic globules are obtained, 
the metal fumes and volatilizes, and covers the 
charcoal with white incrustations, and needle-shaped 
crystals appear. Tin appears when the ore is mixed 
with carbonate of soda and cyanide of potassium on 
charcoal, and the inner flame turned on—ductile 
grains of metallic tin and no incrustations appear. 

Manganese gives amethystine beads of borax in 
the outer flame, 0 F, disappears with the inner, IF, 
reappears with the 0 F. 

Alumina, magnesia, lime, give their characteristic 
colors, or in the last case, incandescent light before 
the blow-pipe on charcoal. Alumina heated on 
charcoal, and then touched by a half drop of proto¬ 
nitrate of cobalt, then heated strongly in the 0 
flame, gives a blue color. Magnesia so treated gives 
a faint red or pink, seen just as it cools. 

Zinc heated on charcoal with carbonate of soda in 
the reducing flame becomes metallic, and when 
oxidized in 0 flame gives a white oxide which is 
yellow when hot, white when cooled, and with pro¬ 
tonitrate of cohalt when heated in the 0 flame, a 
beautiful characteristic green color. 

Cobalt and nickel give the colors we have noticed 
in another place under their respective names ( see 
Index). 

Uranium heated with microcosmic salt (phosphate 


58 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

of soda and ammonia), on platinum wire in the 0 
flame dissolves, producing a clear yellow glass, 
which, on cooling, becomes yellowish-green. But 
the analyst should remember that copper produces 
a green bead, but only in the outer or oxidizing 
flame, and chromium the same, but in both outer 
and inner flames. 

The copper green becomes blue on cooling, the 
chromium green remains green on cooling. This 
will always prove the metal. 

Titanium in the presence of peroxide of iron, as in 
some titanic ores of iron and sand, gives, with micro- 
cosmic salt in a strong reducing blow-pipe flame, a 
yellow glass, on cooling red. 

Mercury may be detected in almost any of its ores 
by the process described (see Index), by heating in a 
glass tube and noting, under the lens, the sublima¬ 
tion of mercury in very minute shining particles. 

Minerals which are carbonates may be detected 
by their effervescence when touched by a drop of 
hydrochloric acid, as in limestone and spathic iron 
ore. But the analyst must remember that some 
cyanides effervesce where neither lime nor carbonic 
acid is present, and chloride of lime where there is 
no carbonic acid. With these latter other tests must 
be used, but the smell will show that carbonic acid 
does not exist, the latter having no smell. 

Some sandstones have a small amount of lime 
carbonate and must be tried under the lens, as the 
bubbles are minute. But, while in these examina¬ 
tions great help is received, and many determina- 



ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


59 


tions made, especially in simple minerals and ores, 
there are compound ores so mixed in elements that 
the above tests fail to give satisfaction, because the 
colors are mixed and the action confused. Some of 
the elements must be moved out of the association 
and a separation made. This analysis is called 
qualitative , and we shall take a case of very full 
analysis of a compound ore. 

Qualitative analysis of ores where many ele¬ 
ments are present: 

There are many times when it becomes not only 
a matter of curiosity but of importance for the pros¬ 
pector to know the entire composition of the ore he 
has before him. 

With a little practice the “wet method,” as it is 
called, may be used by the prospector with all the 
accuracy required under the circumstances. 

The “ dry method ” of analysis is that in which 
no liquids are used, but only fluxes and heat. 
Although for one or two elements it is simpler than 
the wet method, it may so happen that sufficient 
heat cannot be had. We shall, therefore, give some 
directions whereby the wet method may prove of 
greater service. 

1. Pulverize the ore as finely as possible and 
sieve it, passing the entire quantity taken as an 
assay. Should any part be left remaining in the 
sieve it may be a very important part. Pass the 
whole through. 

2. Take a test tube and drop a little of the sifted 
ore into it, pour a little nitric acid upon it, add 


60 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


about one-eighth part water, warm it gently over a 
spirit flame to see if it will dissolve ; if not, then add 
four times as much in bulk of muriatic acid (hydro¬ 
chloric acid). If this will not dissolve then proceed 
as follows:— 

3. Put the assay, after fine pulverization, into a 
platinum crucible. Place it in a suitably arranged 
platinum wire triangle so that it will hang over an 
alcoholic blast lamp. When all is ready add a 
mixture of equal parts of sodium carbonate and of 
potassium carbonate, amounting in all to about four 
times the bulk of the assay, stir gently with a glass 
rod or a stiff platinum wire, and then light the 
lamp. Watch the assay, and when it begins to 
swell up withdraw the lamp, but return it when the 
swelling subsides, so that the alkalies do not throw 
your assay out of the crucible, which should be only 
one-half full at the beginning. With care the con¬ 
tents will soon subside, and under increased heat 
become a quiet liquid mass. Now, extinguish the 
flame, cool the crucible, remove crucible contents to 
a beaker glass or place the crucible with its con¬ 
tents within the beaker, and pour a little water 
upon it, add some nitric acid, or a little hydrochloric 
acid, but not the two acids together , unless you have 
only the assay and not the platinum crucible in 
the beaker—nitro-muriatic acid dissolves platinum. 
Warm and stir till the assay is entirely dissolved, 
except perhaps some white grains of silex. 

4. If the preceding work has been properly per¬ 
formed, the assay is now dissolved and you are 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


61 


ready for work. Filter the contents of the beaker 
to separate any undissolved remainder, if any such 
is seen in the glass, and wash the filter-paper by 
passing an ounce or two of water through it, and 
now make preparations for the next step. It is not 
necessary, where extreme accuracy is not required, 
to wash the filter-paper perfectly free from the acids. 
But if it be necessary, then furnish yourself with a 
small strip of platinum ribbon, clean its surface to 
a polish. If a drop of the filtrate evaporated from 
this surface shows not the least trace of sediment or 
outline even under a lens, the filter-paper is suffi¬ 
ciently washed. When the filter-paper is to be 
burned and weighed, it must be perfectly freed from 
the acids by continuous washing. 

5. Four ten or fifteen drops of the filtrate into a 
test tube. Drop in three or four drops of hydro¬ 
chloric acid. If a precipitate forms it may be of 
silver ; if so, it will grow dark violet on exposure 
to daylight, or more rapidly and darker in sunlight. 
Or to test more quickly, add strong ammonia, 30 to 
40 drops, it dissolves after a short time ; or if it does 
not dissolve, then it is lead ; filter and test on 
charcoal with the blow-pipe; if it gives, with inner 
flame, a bead and yellow incrustation around, it is 
lead. Or, if none of the above results are seen, and 
yet there is a precipitate, then it is mercury. To 
prove this, add a solution of carbonate of potash and 
digest, it turns black ; filter and place it in a glass 
tube, heat gently with a blow-pipe ; it volatilizes and 
condenses on the sides, examine with strong lens, it 
is mercury. 


62 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


6. But suppose hydrochloric acid produces no 
precipitate though in excess and heated? Then 
there is neither lead, silver nor mercury in the 
assay, and it is not necessary to treat the ore for 
either, but proceed to the next step. It will be seen 
why we directed nitric acid to be poured on the 
assay, as in No. 2. Hydrochloric acid would have 
prevented these tests as given, but you are now pre¬ 
pared for the next metals, with three less to look for, 
or with a certaint} r as to the presence of one or 
more of the three. 

7. The whole assay, or its solution, may now be 
used. If any precipitate occurred in the test tube, 
treat the whole assay solution with hydrochloric 
acid, heat to boiling, and separate the precipitated 
metal or metals in the whole, as in the test tube, by 
filtration. Wash, set the paper (filter) aside under 
cover of paper to dry, and pass hydrogen sulphide 
slowly through the filtrate until the filtrate smells 
plainly of the gas. 

8. As this gas is frequently used, make a simple 
and cheap apparatus so that you may have a supply 
at any time, thus : Cut off the bottom of a long 
bottle * of small diameter, D, say about two inches, 
and fit it into a fruit jar, E, as in Fig. 28. 

* Cut a nick, with a Jnrge file, in the spot where you wish 
to start a crack near the bottom, then heat a rod, or poker, 
or spike-nail, nearly red-hot, place it on the nick, a crack 
starts; draw your hot iron and the crack will follow: when 
nearly cracked around pull the bottom off. A glass chim¬ 
ney may be used, but it is rather too small to contain suffi- 
ient iron sulphide. 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


63 


The top A should be fitted loosely so that it may 
be removed and let air pass through. The cork at B 
must he air-tight. Fit a small tube into the cork 
after bending it in a spirit-lamp flame—a quarter- 
inch tube with an eighth-inch aperture is suffic¬ 
iently large and is easily bent. Take an inch rod 
of iron, let the blacksmith heat it white-hot, and 
press it into a small roll of brimstone, this will give 
you iron sulphide—you need it in pieces as large 
as bullets: it melts readily against the brimstone. 
Place some cotton in the neck of the bottle, and, 


Fig. 28. 


C 


C 



having fitted a plug of wood with holes in it for the 
bottom of the bottle, invert the bottle and fill it 
half full of iron sulphide lumps, fasten the wooden 
plug in the bottom, not very tightly, but tightly in 
three or four places, so that water can pass easily, 
and yet the plug be well fixed in. Put the bottle 
in its place, resting in the jar at A, and somewhat 
loosely fastened. But this must be after you have 
half filled the jar with a mixture of equal parts of 














64 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


common hydrochloric acid and rain-water (or, next 
best, well-water). Hydrogen sulphide will form 
immediately, and if you have made all connections 
perfectly, as in the figure, the gas will pass from 
this apparatus into the solution of ore in the beaker 
and precipitation will soon take place. The advan¬ 
tage of this apparatus is that if you tie two little 
blocks of wood against the sides of the India-rubber 
tubes, C C, so as to press the sides together and stop 
the gas from flowing, the gas forming pushes the 
water out of the interior glass D , and the gas stops 
forming, but is ready at any moment to begin as 
soon as the string around the little blocks is removed. 

9. After introducing the hydrogen sulphide until 
the filtrate smells of the gas, filter and wash the pre¬ 
cipitate, mark the paper letter A, and put this pre¬ 
cipitate aside for the present. This is th q precipitate 
from the hydrogen sulphide. 

10. The filtrate. If the strip of platinum 
shows that it contains some material after evapora¬ 
tion of a few drops, proceed by adding a solution of 
ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac), and then aqua 
ammonia to the filtrate, using about one-fifteenth 
or one-twentieth of the bulk. Then add ammo¬ 
nium sulphide so long as any precipitate is appar¬ 
ent. Let it stand awhile. This precipitate may 
contain alumina, chromium oxide, zinc, nickel, 
manganese, cobalt and iron as sulphides. It may 
likewise contain phosphates, borates, oxalates, and 
hydrofluorates of the alkaline earths (barium, stron¬ 
tium and lime). The latter we may not care for. 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


65 


11. Filter and wash this precipitate. Add a little 
water to the hydrochloric acid, now to be used in 
treating the precipitate. Add this diluted hydro¬ 
chloric acid in sufficient quantity to dissolve the 
precipitate, and put it aside to digest. If any part 
refuses to dissolve, it is because there may be 
present cobalt, or nickel, or both ; add nitric acid 
and boil, for these metals dissolve in hot nitro- 
hydrochloric acid. Filter. Next add to the whole 
solution ammonium chloride, and excess of aqua 
ammonia. The consequent precipitate may con¬ 
tain alumina, chromium oxide, sesquioxide of iron, 
and the alkaline earths, as phosphates, etc. Dis¬ 
solve the precipitate by digesting in caustic potash 
solution till all is dissolved that will dissolve. Filter. 
The solution may contain alumina and chromium 
oxide; boil for some time, and if a precipitate is 
formed, it is chromium oxide ; confirm by the 
blow-pipe, it gives a green bead with borax, height¬ 
ened by fusion with metallic tin or charcoal, which 
is the blow-pipe test for chromium. 

12. Now super-saturate the solution with hydro¬ 
chloric acid and boil with excess of ammonia;* if a 
precipitate is formed it is alumina. Confirm with 
blow-pipe, as we have shown. What was dissolved 
by digestion with potassium hydroxide (caustic 
potash solution) has now been treated. The precip¬ 
itate may contain iron and more chromium oxide, 
and the phosphates, etc., of the alkaline earths. 

* By excess we mean so much that after stirring with a 
glass strip or rod, the liquid smells strongly of ammonia. 

5 


66 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

13. We will now proceed with a portion of this 
precipitate by first dissolving it in as small a quan¬ 
tity of .hydrochloric acid as is possible, filter, and 
add to the solution (made as nearly neutral as pos¬ 
sible) two or three drops of ferro-cyanide of potash 
(yellow prussiate of potash in solution); a blue pre¬ 
cipitate is formed, proving the presence of iron 
sesquioxide. Wash another portion and fuse it in a 
small crucible with potassium nitrate (pure salt¬ 
petre) and sodium carbonate about equal parts. 
When cold digest with water; a yellow solution 
results, which produces a yellow T precipitate with 
acetate of lead, showing the presence of oxide of 
chromium. This double finding of chromium oxide 
(for it was found before) is due to the relative quan¬ 
tity of iron present as related to chromium oxide 
present, which will not be entirely precipitated at 
one time in the presence of iron under these cir¬ 
cumstances. 

14. We now go back to the solution filtered off 
from, the precipitate treated of in paragraph 11. 
This solution may contain zinc, maganese, nickel 
and cobalt. Digest with ammonium sulphide, wash 
the consequent precipitate and dissolve it in nitro- 
hydrochloric acid (aqua regia). It may be dissolved 
upon the filter by dropping the mixed acids and 
filtering through into a clean beaker, just as it 
could have been done in paragraph 11. This is 
convenient when the precipitate adheres too tightly 
to the filter to allow of scraping it off entirely. 
Digest this clear solution with potassium hydroxide 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


67 


(or caustic potassa) precisely as in paragraph 11. 
This potassa may be put into the beaker in small 
pieces of the stick, in which form potassium hydrox¬ 
ide generally is sold. 

(а) The solution may contain zinc oxide. 

(б) The 'precipitate may contain manganese, cobalt 
and nickel, as oxides. Pass hydrogen sulphide 
through the solution (a) until the precipitate (white 
zinc) has ceased to fall. Wash and agitate the 
precipitate ( b) with a solution of carbonate of am¬ 
monia. The precipitate which now falls is the car¬ 
bonate of manganese —confirm this by the blow-pipe. 
The solution from this last treatment may contain 
cobalt and nickel oxides ; evaporate it to dryness, re¬ 
dissolve in a few drops of hydrochloric acid, and 
again evaporate to a moist mass and divide the 
mass into two parts. Heat one portion with borax 
in the blow-pipe flame; a blue bead proves cobalt. 
Dissolve the other portion in water and add solu¬ 
tion of cyanide of potassium slowly, a precipitate is 
formed which on continued adding of the potassium 
cyanide begins to re-dissolve. On adding hydro¬ 
chloric acid it is again precipitated. It is nickel. 
Confirm with the blow-pipe. 

15. In paragraph 9, paper A was put aside. This 
paper contained the precipitate holding the copper 
of the ore if any was present. Digest this with 
ammonium sulphide (or potassium sulphide). A 
solution and a precipitate are formed. The precipi¬ 
tate may contain lead, mercury, bismuth, cadmium, 
besides copper, as sulphides. The solution may con- 


68 prospector's field-book and guide. 

tain gold, platinum, antimony, arsenic, and tin as 
sulphides. 

16. Treat the precipitate first, by boiling it with 
nitric acid. A black or brownish residue remains 
undissolved. Take a hard glass tube, and having 
washed and dried the black residue, introduce some 
of it into the tube and heat it. It may act in three 
ways : (a) it sublimes without change ; mercury oxide 
was present—test with blow-pipe; ( b ) it sublimes 
leaving a white powder which when moistened with 
ammonium sulphide turns black, proving it to be lead 
sulphate; (c) it sublimes, but as a mixture of mercury 
sulphide with minute globules of metallic mercury , 
showing that through some haste or lack of care, 
mercury as sub-oxide of mercury still remains when 
it should have been entirely precipitated as chloride 
of mercury at the first (paragraph 5). 

17. We now proceed with the filtrate (obtained as 
stated in paragraph 16), from the black or brownish 
residue. Treat this with solution of carbonate of 
potash and wash the consequent precipitate, and. then 
digest this precipitate in cyanide of potassium in ex¬ 
cess, while it is moist. This may be done on the 
filter after changing the beaker, since this filtrate or 
solution must be kept. The insoluble part may con¬ 
tain lead and bismuth as carbonates—the solution 
may contain copper and cadmium as double salts 
with cyanide of potassium. 

18. Proceed with the insoluble part by boiling it 
with dilute hydrochloric acid. To one part of the 
resultant solution add sulphuric acid, the precipitate 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


69 


indicates lead ; to the other part, after concentration 
by evaporation, add a large quantity of water—a 
milkiness is produced indicating bismuth. 

19. Into the solution (paragraph 17), after digest¬ 
ing with potassium cyanide, pass hydrogen sulphide 
—the precipitate, if formed, indicates cadmium —test 
it with the blow-pipe. To the solution add hydro¬ 
chloric acid —copper sulphide will be precipitated ; 
add a few drops nitric acid, which will dissolve the 
copper sulphide, and then by adding ammonia in 
slight excess the solution has a blue color indicating 
copper. 

20. We are now to treat the solution mentioned in 
paragraph 15. The insoluble part, paragraph 16, 
having been separated off as there stated, add to the 
solution acetic acid, and boil. If a precipitate be 
produced, collect a small portion, wash and heat it 
over a spirit-lamp upon a strip of platinum foil. If 
it burns with a bluish flame and leaves no residue 
whatever, it is sulphur and nothing more may be 
done—this part of the assay is exhausted. But if it 
leaves some residue, then several important elements 
may be present. Proceed, and to one part add a 
solution of chloride of tin (protochloride with a drop 
of nitric acid added), a purple color is produced. 
To another part add a solution of protosulphate of 
iron—a brown precipitate is produced indicating 
gold in both cases. 

To another part add ammonium chloride (solu¬ 
tion), a yellow crystalline precipitate falls which 
marks platinum. Arsenic may be tested by the 


70 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

blow-pipe in the ore, but if the presence of sulphur, 
in larger quantity, prevents detecting a small quan¬ 
tity of arsenic, it may be detected thus : Take a part 
of the black or brownish precipitate resulting from 
the addition of acetic acid, and mix it with three 
times its bulk of nitrate of potash (saltpetre) and 
carbonate of soda. Project this mixture, a little at 
a time, into a Berlin crucible, in which a mixture 
of the same substances has been placed and is in 
fusion over a lamp. At conclusion, digest the fused 
mass with pure water; filter; add excess of nitric 
acid and heat; now add nitrate of silver; filter when 
cold, and add very dilute ammonia; a brown pre¬ 
cipitation or coloring marks arsenic. 

Dissolve another portion of the dark precipitate 
or residue from acetic acid in hydrochloric acid. 
Place in the solution a strip of metallic zinc—a 
pulverulent deposit takes place on the zinc, indi¬ 
cating antimony. If more proof be wanted remove 
the powder to a beaker and digest in nitric acid, 
when a white precipitate is formed, Digest it with 
a strong solution of tartaric acid, only a part may 
be dissolved, but filter; into the clear solution pass 
hydrogen sulphide and an orange-colored precipi¬ 
tate is formed, proving antimony. 

In the last paragraph it was found that a part of 
the precipitate was not dissolved in the tartaric 
acid; dry it; place it on charcoal with a little 
cyanide of potassium and carbonate of soda, and 
turn the inner flame of the blow-pipe upon it; it is 
reduced to metallic tin. 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


71 


In the above analysis provision has been made 
for the detection of sixteen elements. Of course, if 
no precipitates or signs appear at any one stage of 
the analysis, proceed immediately to the next, for it 
is not probable that any mineral will ever contain 
even one-half the elements mentioned in the assay, 
but the full number is given so as to reach any 
possible case. 


DRY ASSAY OF ORES. 

We have given the wet assay method, and we 
now give as much of the dry assay as may generally 
be called for. 

What will be first needed in the dry assay are 
crucibles, scorifiers and cupels. Crucibles for 
general purposes are made of coarse material, and 
are called Hessian. They are sold in nests of five 
or more. The only sizes of much value are those 
holding about 6 to 8 ounces. Scorifiers are flat, 
but thick clay saucers, intended to prepare the 
rough ore for the finer treatment by use of the 
cupel and in the assay furnace. The cupel is a 
little saucer of bone-ash, intended to be used on the 
floor or bottom of a heated muffle in the assay 
furnace. The muffle is a clay oven of small 
dimensions, intended to protect the scorifier and 
cupel from the coals of the furnace. They can be 
obtained at any chemical warehouse. 

An assay furnace may be made of sheet-iron 
some 15 inches in diameter, with a grate near the 
bottom, and lined with either ordinary or fire brick. 


72 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

We give in the accompanying figure the general form 
of one we have used for years with perfect success. 

A plain sheet iron cylinder (Fig. 29) 18 inches 
high and 15 inches in diameter, with draft hole at 
A, muffle hole at B, and pipe- 
hole at C, and lined, as we have 
said, with brick, will answer all 
purposes of the best assays. The 
hole at C must have a collar 
and pipe either for a chimney, 
or it must enter a chimney. B 
must be provided with a flanged 
door, as also the draft hole A. 
The top may have, loosely laid 
on, only a square sheet of heavy 
sheet-iron, and the whole placed 
upon a flat stone or a few bricks. Several heavy 
bars of iron nicked into the bricks will answer 
where there is no iron foundry at hand to cast a 
grating, D. Charcoal or coke may be used, or, 
where the draft is strong, a hard coal. 

The crucible should be lined with charcoal finely 
pulverized, and made past) by mixing with molassss 
or any syrup. This process is called u brasquing.” 
Heat the crucible before using, to dry out the syrup. 

If the object is to obtain the amount of iron in 
an ore, pulverize the ore to about forty to the inch, 
weigh it, mix it with charcoal and cast the mixture 
from a piece of paper in the bottom of the crucible, 
cover it with charcoal an inch or two deep, drop in 
two or three pieces of brick, and place the crucible 


Fig. 29. 


— 

' © 

— 

B 

D 
















ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


73 


in the hottest part of the fire, cover all with coal 
and gradually increase the heat and keep it nearly 
at white heat for half an hour, draw it out, jar the 
crucible down on a stone to settle the melted 
button. When cool take out the contents, and the 
metallic iron will be found with its slag attached. 
Clean the button, weigh it, and the weight of the 
ore used is to the weight of the button as 100 is to 
the per cent, of iron in that ore; that is, multiply 
the weight of the button by 100 and divide by the 
weight of the ore used. 

Sacles, weighing, etc. There is no advantage 
gained in using any other method of weighing than 
that by a pair of brass scales. A small pair of scales, 
sufficiently delicate, may be bought at any chemical 
warehouse, made to pack and carry with ease and 
security. A pair weighing to T ^th of a grain is 
quite sufficient for average work. When in a fixed 
laboratory at home the scales weighing to grain, 
or half a milligram, will save chemicals, time and 
work; but unless the analyst has an absolutely true 
average of the ton of ore most carefully chosen, the 
smaller the amount of ore used the more likely is 
the assay to prove deceptive when proportioned to 
the ton. 

Pulverization for the dry method should never 
be more than 50 or 60 to the inch. Shaller par¬ 
ticles are apt to be lost or separated in the crucible. 
Obtain a piece of silk bolting cloth from a flour 
miller or from the source from which he gets his 
cloth, and select two or three grades, one for “ wet 


74 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


analysis,” which may be as fine as 80 to the inch. 
Have a rim made by the tinner to tie on the sieving 
cloth, or use a cracked beaker glass, cutting it off by 
the method we have alread}^ given. (See previous 
note, page 62.) 

Gold and Silver Ores. These ores require pre¬ 
paration in the scorifier. Powder the ore, of which 
take about 50 grains; of lead shavings take from 
500 to 1000 grains, according to the probable 
amount of silver, much if much silver is present, 
and of* borax take about 50 grains. Mix the ore 
with half the lead and place it in the scorifier, 
spread the other half over the contents, and finally 
spread the borax over all. Put the scorifier in the 
muffle, close the door, and heat up to fusion—then 
the door must be partly opened, heat increased, 
until the oxidized lead (litharge) covers the scorifier 
—take it out and pour the contents into an iron 
cavity or mould, separate the button and hammer 
it up into the shape of a cube. It is now ready for 
cupellation, as it contains all the gold and silver. 

Cupellation. This process simply separates the 
lead from the gold and silver. This it does both 
by absorbing and by oxidizing. Cupels may be 
made, but they may be bought so cheaply that it is 
seldom worth the trouble to make them. 

Push a cupel into the heated muffle, place the 
cube of lead in the cupel with little tongs, and heat 
up till the lead melts, watch the lead gradually 
wasting away until reduced to the size of the silver 
it contains, when the surface will become instan- 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 75 

taneously bright and nothing remains but the silver 
containing the gold. Withdraw the cupel and cool 
and weigh the ball. The gold and silver must be 
separated by the wet process, thus: Dissolve the ball 
in strong nitric acid with heat till the acid boils; a 
dark powder precipitates ; filter off the dark powder, 
it is the gold, and precipitate the silver by solution 
of common table salt or by hydrochloric acid ; after 
all is precipitated drop into the white precipitate 
some pieces of zinc, add more hydrochloric acid— 
hydrogen gas is generated, which reduces the white 
silver chloride to powdered metallic silver. The 
gold and the silver may now r be melted in separate 
crucibles, weighed and compared with the amount 
of ore used. 

In these trials the lead should first be cupelled 
for its silver, and that subtracted from the silver 
found, as almost all leads contain some silver. 

If it should be more convenient to melt the ore 
in a crucible rather than a scorifier, use the follow¬ 
ing flux : If the ore is composed chiefly of rock, pul¬ 
verize, take 100 to 500 grains of ore, red lead 500 
grains, charcoal powder 20 to 25 grains, carbonate 
of soda and borax together 500 grains—the more 
rock the more carbonate of soda, the more metallic 
bases the more borax. Place a little borax over all 
and melt till all is liquid, requiring about 20 min¬ 
utes ; withdraw, extract the button when cool, ham¬ 
mer up to a cube and cupel. Separate the gold and 
silver as before, but remember that the amount of 
silver must be three times that of the gold, and if 


76 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

there is reason to believe that there is not this 
amount, some silver must be melted with the button, 
since the separation will not otherwise be complete. 

Lead Ore, Galena. The charge for the crucible 
is carbonate of soda, two or three times the weight 
of the ore, three or four tenpenny nails on top to 
absorb the sulphur, and a covering of salt or borax 
heated to redness about 20 minutes. Pour the con¬ 
tents into a crucible and separate the button. 

Copper Ore. The wet assay is better than the 
dry, especially that b} 7 the burette, which we shall 
give later on. 

Tin Ore. If it is mixed with iron or copper 
pyrites it should be powdered and roasted, and then 
mixed with one-quarter of its weight of charcoal 
and subjected to great heat in a crucible for about 
20 minutes. Jar it as in an iron assay, let it cool, 
and pick out the button or buttons, or pour it out 
while melted. 

It may be reduced otherwise by melting the pow¬ 
dered ore with cyanide of potassium, 100 grains of 
ore to 600 grains of cyanide. Cool, extract button. 

This ore is very hard and may be powdered to 60 
to the inch. 

Mercury. These ores are easily reduced by 
simply heating and condensing the vapors in a 
cold bath as in using a retort and cool receiver. 

Antimony. Place about 2000 grains of ore pow¬ 
dered in a crucible having a hole chipped out in 
the bottom, and the hole stopped loosely with a 
piece of charcoal. Put this crucible into another 


ANALYSES OF ORES-WET METHOD. 


77 


half-way down. Then lute on the lid and put clay 
around the juncture of the two and put live coals 
around the upper crucible by placing some broken 
bricks around the lower on the grate, to keep the 
coals away from the upper. The antimony will 
melt and leave its gangue rock in the upper crucible, 
while the lower will receive the melted metal. 

Bismuth, zinc, manganese, nickel, cobalt, and 
other metals should be reduced or analyzed by the 
“ wet process ” which we have already given. (In 
this chapter, IV.) 


CHAPTER V. 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 

We shall now proceed to a more definite and 
practical treatment of these two subjects, technical 
mineralogy and economic geology, so far, onl y, as 
they may be of service in the work before us. 

The first suggestion we have to make is that the 
best preparation for the general study of mineralogy 
is to gather a collection of the chief mineral sub¬ 
stances with which the student is to come in con¬ 
tact. In many cases very small specimens are 
sufficient. As we proceed in our treatment of each 
substance it will occur to the reader what and how 
much he needs to obtain. But it should be empha¬ 
sized that no amount of study on the part of the 
student, -nor of description on the part of the in¬ 
structor, can ever take the place of the actual 
specimen.* 

Gold. —Gold is one of the most widely distributed 
metals, but generally speaking, accumulations of 
larger quantities of it are found only in a few local¬ 
ities. Traces of it pass from various ores into arti¬ 
ficial products, for instance, into litharge, minium, 
white lead, silver and copper and coins made there- 


*For list of specimens, see end of book. 

(78) 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


79 


from, etc. Minute quantities of gold (about 13 
grains in 1 ton) have been found even in sea water 
as well as in clay deposits, 

The chief supplies of gold are at the present time 
obtained from the United States (California, Nevada, 
Arizona, Montana, Utah, Alaska, Colorado) from 
British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Mexico, Peru and 
Brazil, from Australia (especially Victoria, New 
South Wales and Queensland), Tasmania, New Zea¬ 
land, and in Africa (Natal, the Transvaal, etc.). 
The Ural Mountains and Siberia also yield consid¬ 
erable gold. In Europe only Transylvania and 
Hungary are of any importance. 

Gold occurs almost exclusively in the metallic 
state, either in situ, in quartz rock, especially along 
with quartz, pyrites and hydroferrite; also as gold 
sand, in dust or grains, leaflets and rounded pieces 
(nuggets), in the sands of rivers or in alluvial soils, 
consisting chiefly of clay and quartz sand along 
with mica, water-worn fragments of syenite, chlorite 
slate, grains of chrome iron and magnetic iron, 
spinel, garnet, etc. In the metallic state it con¬ 
tains always more or less silver as electrum. Ac¬ 
cording to recent analyses native gold contains: 

Transyl- South 

vania. America. Siberia. California. . Australia. 


Gold.64.77 88.04 86.50 90.00 99.2 and 95.7 

Silver.35.23 11.96 13.20 10.06 0.43 “ 3.8 


Iron and other metals — — 0.30 0.34 0.28 “ 0.2 

Siberian, Californian and Australian gold con¬ 
tain not unfrequently osmiridium, palladium and 




80 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


platinum. Mexican rhodium-gold contains 34 to 
43 per cent, rhodium. Gold amalgam is found in 
California and Columbia. The so-called black gold 
which occurs in nuggets in Arizona and at Maldon, 
Victoria, in granite and quartz lodes, is crystalline 
and silver-like when freshly fractured, but soon 
turns black in the air. It is bismuth-gold, with 
64.211 gold, 34.398 bismuth and 1.591 gangue. 
Gold is also often met with in native tellurium and 
silver telluride, sometimes in iron pyrites, copper 
pyrites, in blende, in arsenical pyrites and galena. 
To detect a content of native gold in pyrites bring 
a few drops of mercur}' into a porcelain crucible, 
put a perforated piece of cardboard in the crucible 
so that it rests a short distance above the mercury, 
place a small package of pyrites over the hole in 
the cardboard, heat the crucible for some time and 
watch with the pocket-lens for the appearance of 
white stains of gold amalgam, which on rubbing 
with a brush or feather becomes lustrous. 

Gold crystallizes in the isometric system, but 
crystals are seldom found. Figs. 30 and 31 repre¬ 
sent gold crystals. Twin crystals are also occasion¬ 
ally found. In Sonora, California, Blake found 
gold in hexagonal prisms. Fig. 32 shows the finest 
gold-dust 700 times magnified, and Fig. 33 a re¬ 
duced illustration of a lump of gold which was 
found at Forest Creek, Victoria, Australia. It 
weighed more than 30 pounds, and was 11.33 
inches long and 5.15 inches wide. The largest 
nugget of gold ever found was at Ballarat, Austra- 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


81 


lia. It weighed over 191 pounds, and was 20 
inches long and 9 inches wide. 

The specific gravity of gold is 16 to 19.5, accord- 


Fig. 30. Fig. 31. Fig. 32. 



ing to the amount of alloy ; hardness 2.5 to 3.0. It 
is the only yellow , malleable mineral found in the 
natural state. Its color varies from pale to deep 
yellow. In some localities, such as in New South 


Fig. 33. 



Wales, Australia, and Costa Rica, it is often found 
of a very light color, but it presents the same color 
from whatever direction it is looked at, and to the 
prospector this is a guiding test. Indeed one of the 
6 





82 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

most important and useful accomplishments for 
gold exploitation is “an eye for color.” Native 
gold poesesses a peculiar color which is readily 
recognized, although the gold may be alloyed with 
silver or copper, and its color will in an instant dis. 
tinguish it in the eye of the expert from any condi¬ 
tion of pyrites, whether iron or copper pyrites. 

Gold grains will always flatten when struck with 
a hammer or between two stones, whereas other 
minerals similar in color will break into fragments- 
Or if the doubtful particle is coarse enough, take a 
needle and stick the point into the questionable 
specimen. If gold, the steel point will readily prick 
it; if pyrites or yellow mica, the point will glance off 
or only scratch it. 

Under the blow-pipe, on a piece of charcoal, gold 
may melt, but on cooling it always retains its color; 
any other mineral will lose color, become black¬ 
ened, or will be attracted to the end of your pen¬ 
knife blade, if that blade has been previously 
magnetized, and the unknown substance contains 
iron. 

Gold imparts no color to boiling nitric acid. It 
will not dissolve in nitric or hydrochloric acid 
separately, but it does dissolve in the two when 
combined, and then the acid is known as nitro- 
muriatic acid or aqua regia. Proportions: one 
nitric to four muriatic. 

But it is not always a trustworthy sign that par¬ 
ticles are gold because they will not dissolve in 
nitric acid. Some seemingly gold-colored particles 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


83 


will not dissolve in nitric acid, and yet contain not 
a trace of gold. 

The simplest instrument for the discovery of gold 
in fine dissemination through sand or dirt is a 
shallow iron pan or dish ; a frying pan free from 
grease will answer very well on a pinch. A very 
simple apparatus is shown in Fig. 34, which is 
especially used in South America, where it is called 
the batea. It is a round, funnel-like vessel of wood 


Fig. 34. 



or sheet iron about 18 inches in diameter with a 
depression in the center. The object of 'panning out, 
as the operation with the pan or the batea is called, 
is to settle and collect at the bottom of the pan the 
heaviest portions of the material subjected to the 
test. This is effected by filling the pan to not much 
more than half its content with the material to be 
tried, then provide a hole full of “still ” water, which 
hole must be large and deep enough to allow of the 
free swinging of the pan under the surface of the 
water. Now dip the pan with the material into the 
water, quite filling it, rub the stones and gravel until 
the clay that may be adhering to them is removed 
and dissolved, then give the pan a few vigorous 
swinging rotary shakes, let the water run off, shak- 





84 


prospector’s field-book and guide. 


ing the pan from right to left and left to right all 
the time. When the water has run off, the material 
should be lodged near the lip of the pan, which, be¬ 
ing dipped into the water and raised above it, allows 
the flow of the water to carry off the lighter portions 
of the sand and gravel. After several such dips the 
pan is shaken as before, and the whole process re¬ 
peated until no more than about a dessert-spoonful 
is left. This is then carefully examined with a 

Fig. 35. 



microscope for any mineral or metal it may con¬ 
tain. The gold will be immediately recognized by 
“ an eye for color.” Where water can be had, a pan 
is the most efficient instrument a man can travel 
with in his gold-seeking journeys. 

A crude apparatus formerly much used in Cali¬ 
fornia and Australia is called the cradle or rocker. 
This, as shown in Fig. 35, is a trough of some 7 


















SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


85 


feet in length and 2 broad. Across the bottom of 
this several bars are nailed at equal distances, and 
at the upper end a kind of sieve is fixed at about a 
foot above the bottom. This whole arrangement is 
mounted upon rollers. To operate the apparatus 
four men are required. One man digs out the 
earth from the hole, a second supplies the cradle 
sieve with this auriferous earth, a third keeps up a 
supply of water which he pours upon the earth in 
the sieve, while a fourth keeps the machine con¬ 
tinually moving upon the rollers. The large stones 
washed out are removed by hand from the sieve, 
and the water at the same time washes the smaller 
substance through, which is slowly carried towards 
the lower end of the trough by a slight inclination 
given to the whole. Thus the flow of water tends 
to keep the earthy particles in suspension so as to 
allow of their washing off, while the heavier por¬ 
tions of gold are obstructed in their flow, and re¬ 
tained against the cross bars fixed to the cradle 
bottom. These are removed from time to time and 
dried in the sun, when, after blowing away lighter 
particles, the metal only further requires to be 
melted. 

A more efficient apparatus is the long tom , Fig. 
36. This is a trough about 12 feet in length by 20 
inches in width at the upper end, and widening to 
30 inches at the lower end. It is about 9 inches 
deep and has a fall of 1 inch to a foot. An iron 
screen is placed at the lower end (cut off in the 
manner shown in the illustration) where large 


86 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

stones are caught, and below this screen is the riffle 
box, 12 feet long, 3 feet wide and having the same 
inclination as the upper trough. It is fitted with 
several riffles, in which mercury is sometimes placed. 
Much more work can be done with this appliance 
than with the cradle, which it has generally super- 


Fig. 36. 




seded. Of course the gold must be coarse and water 
plentiful. 

Washing the gold dirt is also affected by sluices 
having an inclination of about 8 feet in 12 feet. 
These sluices consist of a series of troughs formed 
by planks nailed together, the length of each being 
about 10 or 12 feet, the height 8 inches to 2 feet, 
the width 1 to 4 feet. By making one end of the 
bottom plank of each trough 4 inches narrower than 
at the other, the troughs can be telescoped into one 
another and so a sluice of very great length can be 
formed. Across the inside of the bottom-planks, 
small narrow strips of wood 2 inches or so thick, 
and 3 or more inches wide, are fixed across, or 
sometimes at angles of 45° to the side of the trough, 
at short intervals apart. Running water washes 

























SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


87 


downward the earth thrown into the sluice, which 
is open on the top side, and the gold dust accumu¬ 
lates, sometimes assisted by the aid of mercury 
allowed to trickle out of a vessel from riffle to riffle, 
in front of the bars, while the lighter matter is 
washed downwards. 

A still more effective method is what is called 
hydraulic mining , and under favorable circum¬ 
stances, such as a plentiful supply of water with 
good fall and extensive loose auriferous deposits, a 


Fig. 37. 



ver}^ small amount of gold to the ton can be made 
to give paying returns. The water is conducted in 
flumes or pipes to a point near where it is required, 
thence in wrought-iron pipes gradually reduced in 
size and ending in a great nozzle somewhat like 
that of a fireman’s hose. Figs. 37 and 38 show the 
arrangement. Fig. 37 exhibits the mouth-piece 
movable at A B in an ascending, and at CD in an 
inclined direction. E is a lever loaded with 





88 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


weights, which facilitates the adjustment of the 
mouth-piece by the operator in any direction. The 
method of operating the arrangement will be seen 
from Fig. 38. A is the water-distributor, B the 
nozzle, C channels for carrying off the debris de- 


Fig. 38. 



tached from the ledge, D piles of larger pieces of 
rock which are finally comminuted. Tis a tunnel 
through which the water reaches the gutter, pro¬ 
vided with the grating F through which the finer 
stuff falls into the shallow settling basin E, and is 
distributed by blocks G, while the principal mass of 













SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


89 


water with the coarser material passes over the 
grating F into the principal sluice in. which the 
grating H retains the larger pieces which are then 
thrown out at J. The basins E and the principal 
sluice are paved with wooden blocks or stones be¬ 
tween which mercury is placed. The amalgam 
formed is freed from admixtures in a mercury bath, 
pressed through sail-cloth, boiled in sulphuric acid 
and distilled. 

Burning and Drifting. The labor of removing the 
barren gravel which overlies the pay dirt is very 
great, but ordinarily this is undertaken when the 
thickness is not considerable. With increasing 
thickness a point is soon reached where the task 
of removing it becomes so formidable that the miner 
will not make the attempt unless he believes that 
there is rich pay dirt beneath. In this event the 
practice is adopted of sinking shafts through the 
barren material to the pay dirt, and extracting the 
pay dirt by means of tunnels or drifts along the sur¬ 
face of the bed-rock. This method of working has 
been adopted onty lately, but promises to be very 
important. The ordinary methods of sinking, drift¬ 
ing, timbering, stoping, etc., have been peculiarly 
modified in the Forty-mile District, Alaska, on ac¬ 
count of the exceptional character of the climate, and 
these modifications have spread from this district 
over the rest of the gold diggings. Owing to the 
severity and length of the winters the gravels are 
frozen during seven or eight months of the year. 
The miner who desires to sink a shaft waits until 


90 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


the cold season arrives, and then sinks through the 
frozen ground, which is so firm that the shafts or 
drifts do not need timbering for the sake of support. 
In sinking or drifting, instead of employing powder 
and pick, as elsewhere, a small fire is built at the 
bottom of the shaft which is being sunk, or at the 
face of the drift which is being run, and thus the 
gravels are thawed out for some distance and can be 
easily taken up and brought to the surface. It takes 
a surprisingly small amount of wood to run a drift 
through the frozen gravel for a long distance. In 
this way the pay dirt is extracted and accumulates 
on the surface until spring, when it is shoveled into 
sluices and the gold is separated by washing, pan¬ 
ning, blowing and amalgamation in the manner pre¬ 
viously described. One large chamber or“stope” 
thus excavated in the gravels of Miller Creek in the 
Forty-mile District, is said to have measured G4 by 
32 feet, and 19 feet in height, with only 8 feet of 
barren gravel between it and the surface; and yet 
this stood firmly until spring when the gravels 
thawed and the stope caved in. 

For lode 'prospecting a pestle and mortar should be 
carried. The handiest for traveling is a mortar 
made from a mercury bottle cut in half, and a not 
too heavy wrought iron pestle with a hardened face. 
To get the stuff to regulated fineness a fine screen is 
required, and the best for the prospector who is 
often on the move, is made from a piece of cheese 
cloth stretched over a small hoop. It is often 
desirable to heat the rock before crushing, as it is 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


91 


thus more easily triturated and will reveal all its 
gold. Having crushed the gangue to a fine powder, 
proceed to pan it off in the same manner as washing 
out alluvial earth, except that in prospecting quartz 
one has to be much more particular, as the gold is 
usually finer. Take the pan in both hands and 
admit enough water to cover the pulverized sub¬ 
stance by a few inches. The whole is then swirled 
around and the dirty water poured off from time to 
time till the residue is clean quartz sand and heavy 
metal. Then the pan is gently tipped and a side to 
side motion given to it, thus causing the heavier 
contents to settle down in the corner. Next the 
water is carefully lapped in over the side, the pan 
being now tilted at a greater angle until the lighter 
particles are all washed away. The pan is then 
once more righted and very little water is a few 
times passed over the pinch of heavy mineral, when 
the gold will be revealed in a streak along the 
bottom. In this operation, as in all others, only 
practice will make perfect, and a few practical 
lessons are worth whole pages of written instruction. 

J. C. F. Johnson* gives the following directions 
for making an amalgamating assay that will prove 
the amount of gold which can be got from a ton of 
a lode. Take a number of samples from different 
parts, both length and breadth. The drillings from 
the blasting boreholes collected make the best test. 
When finely triturated weigh off one or two pounds, 


* “ Getting Gold.” London, 1897. 


92 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

place in a black iron pan (it must not be tinned) 
with 4 ounces of mercury, 4 ounces common salt, 4 
ounces soda, and about half a gallon of boiling water. 
Then with a stick, stir the pulp constantly, occasion¬ 
ally swirling the dish as in panning off', till you feel 
certain that every particle of the gangue has come 
in contact with the mercury. Then carefully pan 
off into another dish so as to lose no mercury. 
Having got your amalgam clean, squeeze it through 
a piece of chamois leather, though a good quality 
of new calico previously wetted will do as well. 


Fig. 39. 



The resulting pill of hard amalgam can then be 
wrapped in a piece of brown paper, placed on an 
old shovel, and the mercury driven off over a hot 
fire. Or a clay tobacco pipe, the mouth being- 
stopped with clay, makes a good retort. To make 
such a retort, Fig. 39, take two new tobacco pipes 
similar in shape, with the biggest bowls and longest 
stems procurable. Break off the stem of one close 
to the bowl and fill the hole with well-worked clay. 
Set the stem less pipe on end in a clay bed, and fill 
with amalgam, pass a bit of thin iron or copper 








SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


93 


wire beneath it, and bend the end of the wire 
upwards. Now fit the whole pipe, bowl inverted, 
on to the under one, luting the edges well with 
clay. Twist the wire over the top with a pair of 
nippers till the two bowls are fitted closely together, 
and you have a retort that will stand any heat 
necessary to thoroughly distil mercury. The re¬ 
sidue, after the mercury has been driven off, will be 
retorted gold, which, on being weighed and the 
result multiplied by 2240 for 1 pound assay, or by 
1120 for two pounds, will give the amount of gold 
per ton which an ordinary battery might be expected 
to save. Thus 1 grain to the pound, 2240 pounds 
to the ton, would show that the stuff contained 4 
ounces, 13 pennyweights, 8 grains per ton. 

Although not strictly within the scope of this 
small book, the process of extracting gold from lode 
stuff and tailings by means of cyanide of potassium, 
which is now largely used, may be thus briefly 
described : It is chiefly applied to tailings, that is, 
crushed ore that has already passed over the amal¬ 
gamating aud blanket tables. The tailings are 
placed in vats, and subjected to the action of solu¬ 
tions of cyanide of potassium of varying strengths 
down to 0.2 per cent. These dissolve the gold, 
which is leached from the tailings, passed through 
boxes in which it is precipitated either by means of 
zinc shavings, electricity, or other precipitant. The 
solution is made up to its former strength and 
passed again through fresh tailings. When the 
tailings contain a quantity of decomposed pyrites, 


94 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


partly oxidized, the acidity caused by the free sul¬ 
phuric acid requires to be neutralized by an alkali, 
caustic soda being usually employed. 

When “ cleaning up,” the cyanide solution in the 
zinc precipitating boxes is replaced by clean water. 
After careful washing in the box, to cause all pure 
gold and zinc to fall to the bottom, the zinc shav¬ 
ings are taken out. The precipitates are then col¬ 
lected, and after calcination in a special furnace for 
the purpose of oxidizing the zinc, are smelted in the 
usual manner. 

Other forms and conditions. Beside in the 
condition of simple native gold, this metal is found, 
as previously mentioned, in intimate mixture with 
pyrite (iron sulphide). It does not seem to be a 
compound, but as we have said, a mixture or minute 
association. This seems'evident from the fact that 
when the sulphur is-removed from the pyrite and 
the iron rusts down, the gold particles appear with 
their own color and characteristics in cavities of 
various rocks, which, when crushed or water-worn, 
release the particles or pieces to be washed down 
and mingled with sands and gravels of lower levels, 
or perhaps the beds and channels of rivers. This is 
‘‘placer gold.” Where gold has not yet been thus 
released it is found in association with iron, and 
especially with quartz in veins. In some instances 
the gold in quartz is disseminated in particles so 
exceedingly fine as to require the lens to reveal it. 

Nevertheless quartz is not the only mineral which 
contains gold, although it is the world’s great 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


95 


paying source of gold. Some of the other minerals 
contain it. It is found in yellowish-white, four-sided 
prisms, and in small white grains as large as a pea, 
and easily crumbles. In this condition the gold is 
amalgamated with quicksilver in the proportion of 
38 gold to 57 quicksilver, and is known as “ gold 
amalgam.” It is very easily tested by heating upon 
a piece of charcoal by a blow-pipe, when the quick¬ 
silver volatilizes and the gold remains. 

Gold in paying quantities is found in numerous 
combinations, and must be discovered and extracted 
either chemically, by the “ wet method,” or by assay¬ 
ing in the crucible by means of the cupel and furn¬ 
ace, when it cannot be separated on the spot by the 
blow-pipe. These methods are taught in any book 
upon the assay of gold. 

WHERE IS GOLD FOUND? 

In studying the geologic aspect of this subject 
and making the practical application of our knowl¬ 
edge to the search, we may state that the original 
position of gold must have been in great depths. 
From these depths it has been brought up by the 
upheaval of the granitic rocks, and perhaps, along 
with basaltic and other intrusions shot up from im¬ 
mense depths. In the course of ages the attrition 
and breaking down of these higher or uplifted levels, 
and the long-continued floods, rains and the waves 
of ancient oceans and other disintegrating forces 
which produced the sedimentary rocks, at the same 
time liberated the gold which was incapable of de- 


96 


PROSPECTOR'S FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


composition. The gold thus found new and varied 
resting places in the sedimentary rocks of various 
ages, and in all the conditions which the surface 
might assume. 

The quartz rocks are neither igneous nor sedimen¬ 
tary, but are supposed to have been in liquid form 
as solutions of silex, which, during long periods of 
time, gradually deposited the silex and whatever 
the} r contained, the water disappearing by evapora¬ 
tion or absorption. 

Frequently, cellular quartz has been found with 
gold within the cells, the material which surrounded 
the gold having become decomposed, and, thus re¬ 
leasing the undecomposed gold, the latter is found 
in the cells of the quartz. 

Gold, therefore, is to be expected and looked for 
in granitic regions (Fig. 40), and in those rocks and 
from those gravels and sands which owe their origin 
to such regions. It requires much judgment, gen¬ 
eral exploration, and knowledge of the region before 
the prospector can, with probability, expect to meet 
with gold, or before he should begin the search. 
But with a full knowledge of the geologic condition 
of the country, and acting in accordance with the 
above facts, the prospector will soon come upon 
traces of gold, if any exist 

In looking for indications, the prospector should 
never pass an ironstone “ blow out ” without ex¬ 
amination, as, according to the German aphorism, 
“the iron hat covers the golden head,” or as the 
Cornishman puts it, “ iron rides a good horse.” 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


97 


The ironstone outcrop may cover a gold, silver, 
copper or tin lode. 

Besides the general instruction given above, con¬ 
siderable study should be devoted to the peculiar 
and seemingly irregular deposits of gold where it 
does not appear to have been washed down from any 
higher levels. For instance, in California and some 
other districts free gold has been found in drifts and 
sand and in the beds of streams which have not 
only been tilled up, but have been buried under 


Fig. 40. 



Section showing the two conditions under which gold is usually found in rock 

and drift. 

The Structure of the Ural Mountains.— a. Granitic and gneiss rocks 
penetrated with greenstones and porphyrytic rocks containing gold finely 
disseminated, b. Micaceous, talcose, and argillaceous slaty rocks, supposed 
to be Laurentian and Cambrian, c. Silurian and Devonian strata, d. Car¬ 
boniferous, limestone and grits, e. Coal measures. /. Permian and newer 
rocks. G, G, G, G. Drift, filling hollows in rocks with gold, especially at the 
base of the drift. 


regions of sandstone or other rocks, but the whole 
country has apparently been raised, or the sur¬ 
rounding region has sunk so as not to show any 
very considerable elevation beyond where the gold 
deposits have been formed. But, even in this case, 
the general rule has been shown to be correct, for 
7 









98 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

these deposits have been proved to be in the beds 
or channels of ancient rivers, which had either been 
dried up and overflowed by vast eruptions of lava 
or basalt, and again by floods bringing new soil and 
creating sedimentary rock, or the country has been 
raised, or subsidence of a great extent of land has 
taken place. In many cases, however, no sub¬ 
sidence has occurred, but only overflow and filling 
up through ages, and the actual sources still remain 
elevated. 

Such events as we have just described do not 
transpire without leaving, in some parts, traces or 
features or material, which, to the practiced eye of 
a skillful prospector, are evidences of some such 
movements and changes, and he may proceed to 
make a successful opening only after he has care¬ 
fully examined a large tract of country, for it is 
from extended survey that he may the more wisely 
judge of the relation of superficial parts to the 
greater depths of even small areas. 

Those rocks which lie more immediately over the 
granite, and which, although they owe their origin 
to a sedimentary condition, have been subjected to 
heat and heated waters, as is supposed, we have 
called “ metamorphic rocks.” But they have been, 
probably, first formed from the disintegration of the 
most ancient rocks, and have brought with them 
fragments of gold. These metamorphic rocks have 
been changed from ordinary sedimentary rock by 
the action of heat and by pressure, and the in¬ 
fluence of such treatment maybe suspected by their 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


99 


appearance as crystalline in their composition ; that 
is, the fine grains which compose them, as well as 
the larger grains, are angular, whereas the mater¬ 
ials of purely sedimentary rocks are fine without 
angular shape. The larger part of granite is sup¬ 
posed to have been metamorphic or changed, as the 
word means, or “ altered ” merely by the action of 
heat into a crystalline form or mass. 

The igneous rocks are those whose forms are due 
to having been melted and driven to the surface 
through fissures in the overlying rocks. They are 
variously composed of feldspar, hornblende, little 
quartz, with comparatively small proportions of 
other substances, and are called by various names 
according to the composition. The metamorphic 
granite contains quartz, feldspar, and mica; the 
igneous granite contains little or no quartz. Syenite- 
granite contains hornblende in place of mica. Some¬ 
times the mica is very black, as hornblende is, and 
in that case may be distinguished from the latter 
by its more easy cleavage, as we have shown, under 
a sharp pen-knife; this black mica is the kind we 
have described as biotite (p. 17). There is a syenite 
which contains no quartz, called hyposyenite. These 
rocks are not the original home of gold, but at pres¬ 
ent it is very largely in these metamorphic rocks 
that the most paying gold is to be found, more 
especially in the quartz veins which have intersected 
these rocks. One, therefore, of the most important 
studies of the prospector is to acquaint himself 
familiarly with the appearance, the locations, and 


100 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

the departures of these metamorphic rocks. In 
many places where the alluvial gold, derived from 
the gold-bearing gravels, has almost ceased to be 
worth working, there still remain sources undis¬ 
covered, and these sources may probably be traced 
back even yet to some out-crop or to some ancient 
elevation now having subsided. 

The above remarks are applicable to explorations 
for other metallic ores than gold. They apply to 
silver, and especially to tin ores, and with some 
modifications to copper ores and to quicksilver, as 
we shall show. 

Gold in combination. We have been speaking 
of gold as native and alone. But it must not be 
thought that this condition is the only one in which 
paying gold is found. The combinations of gold 
with various oxides and sulphides of other metals 
are very valuable, and should be studied. 

In almost all gold-bearing regions the iron sul¬ 
phides carry much gold, and in some regions the 
paying gold is found only in this substance. Hence, 
it is well for the prospector to determine the presence 
of gold in the pyrite or whatever sulphide may pre¬ 
sent itself. We, therefore, state a method or two of 
determining the fact that gold exists in this sub¬ 
stance. 

1. To separate gold in metallic sulphides , for in¬ 
stance, iron pyrites. Powder the sulphide as finely 
as possible. Put about an ounce into a Hessian 
crucible and heat to a very low red heat for an 
hour, or until there is very little escape of sulphur 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


101 


fumes. Remove the crucible and put its contents 
into a porcelain dish. Pour over the roasted pow¬ 
der three fluidounces of strong nitric acid, by drops, 
until all violent action ceases. Add water, 8 or 10 
fluidounces; the gold, if any, will appear as a very 
fine black powder; filter and dry, pick out a small 
particle of the powder and mash it upon a hard 
surface, iron or agate, in an agate mortar; if it is 
gold, it will show the gold color. A sufficient 
quantity of the dried powder may be placed upon 
a piece of charcoal, and by means of either 0 or I 
flame of the blow-pipe it may be melted, and both 
by its color and softness be proved to be gold. 

There is difficulty in this process which the 
prospector may not be able easily to overcome, and 
that is the necessity of using the strongest nitric acid. 
If he has a little laboratory he may readily make 
his own nitric acid of sufficient power, and then he 
possesses the simplest and quickest method of treat¬ 
ing sulphides or any gold-bearing pyrites. The 
process is as follows : This acid may be made from 
common saltpetre and sulphuric acid of commerce. 
Dry the saltpetre after breaking it into small lumps 
of a half inch in diameter, carefully drop the lumps 
into a glass retort, hang the retort on a wire or 
stand, and introduce the beak into a glass bottle. 
Place the bottle in a basin of cold water and you 
may now apply the heat of a lamp, keeping the 
flame low and five or six inches off from the bottom 
of the retort. A coal-oil lamp with a short chimney 
may be used, and the heat regulated to a point at 


102 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

which brownish vapors appear in the retort. Keep 
enough acid in the retort to barely cover the salt¬ 
petre, and keep cool water in the basin, and the 
vapors come over and condense without much 
trouble. 

Stop the operation when the vapors cease to come 
over, and the mass in the retort seems to settle down 
to an even surface. Then draw out the beak of the 
retort and put the glass stopper into the bottle, and 
keep the bottle away from light and heat. Wash 
out the retort, and if you require more nitric acid 
renew the operation. The retort should be tubu¬ 
lated to allow of adding sulphuric acid during the 
operation if needed. 

This acid is a yellowish-brown liquid and is 
known as “fuming nitric acid,” and is one of those 
very active and convenient aids in the laboratory 
which cannot readily be purchased, and, therefore, 
must generally be made; but so little of it may be 
used that a small quantity goes a great way, and it 
will effect a result which the strongest and purest 
chemically-pure nitric acid fails to produce. Its 
effect is to release the gold from the combination of 
iron and sulphur by oxidizing the latter as well as 
the former, and rendering them soluble in water, 
while the gold remains in metallic form of an ex¬ 
ceedingly fine black powder, as we have said. 

2. Another method of detecting and separating 
the gold, where the above one cannot be used, is 
by pulverizing the sulphide ore very finely and mix¬ 
ing it with three or four times its weight of caustic 


SPEC!AL MINERALOGY—GOLD. 


103 


potash or caustic soda, and then subjecting the 
crucible, which contains the mixture, to a low red 
heat till all the contents cease agitation and become 
perfectly tranquil. Then remove the crucible, wait 
till all is cool, and then add hydrochloric (muriatic) 
acid in an amount equal to three or four times the 
bulk of the mass. To this, after standing three or 
four hours in a warm place, add the usual nitric 
acid (about an ounce), after transferring all the 
liquid to a porcelain dish, or, next best, to a beaker- 
glass. Let it stand in a warm place for about an 
hour, then add a little more nitric acid (about half 
ounce), stir it well with a glass rod or strip of glass, 
and let it stand again for an hour or two. Examine 
carefully, and if it seems to have been dissolved 
more thoroughly than before, add a little more 
nitric acid and warm again, stirring well as before. 
If no more seems to be dissolved, then filter and 
wash the sediment in the filter and let it dry, and 
remove the filter and contents for further examina¬ 
tion. Now precipitate the gold from the filtrate by 
pouring into it a solution of ferrous sulphate. [Any 
clear green crystals of “copperas” (sulphate of iron) 
of the drug store, filtered, after saturated solution 
in clean rain-water and kept in corked bottles, will 
answer this purpose.] Let the solution stand in a 
warm place for an hour, drop in a few more drops, 
and if any further precipitation takes place, add 
half an ounce of the sulphate, stir it again, let it 
remain an hour longer in a warm place till all pre¬ 
cipitation ceases. Decant the supernatant clear 


104 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

water and transfer the remainder to a filter-paper 
carefully, and a . little at a time, to avoid breaking 
the filter-paper, then rinse the porcelain dish to get 
all particles upon the filter-paper, and when all the 
liquid has passed through, let it dry, and remove 
all the contents of the paper to a small porcelain 
capsule or crucible, and apply the heat of the blow¬ 
pipe to burn off the paper or any organic substance 
which may have got into the powder; the gold 
remains, which may be gathered upon charcoal and 
melted into a globule by the concentrated flame of 
the blow-pipe, if in small quantity. Lastly, examine 
the contents of the filter which was laid aside ; and, 
if any appearance of gold is noted, separate it under 
examination by a pocket lens. 

The high value of gold renders even a grain of 
gold to the pound of ore, if that pound is an aver¬ 
age pound in the ton, worth $80 to the ton, of 2000 
pounds. Hence, a pyrites which contains a half 
grain to the half pound may prove too valuable to 
neglect. In the Brazils, in deep mines, the ore 
yields only half an ounce to the ton of ore, and yet 
it is mined at a profit.* In California, a continuous 
yield of three-eighths to half an ounce of gold to the 
ton of quartz is considered profitable working.f 

It must be remembered, however, that the above 
process of extracting the gold from a pyritous ore 
does not extract with perfect accuracy all the gold 

* Matins’ Metallurgy, p. 227. 

f Davies’ Metalliferous Minerals and Mining, p. 54. 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


105 


unless conducted with more care and time than we 
have suggested, but it is sufficient to reveal the fact 
that the ore is valuable. 

3. The following method requires more time and 
care and the use of a little furnace, but will give 
very accurate results. Pulverize the ore supposed 
to contain any gold, whether pyritous or not. Heat 
it in a crucible very gradually at first, increasing 
the heat to drive off as much sulphur as possible, 
frequently -stirring it and increasing the heat till 
all fumes seem to have escaped. Withdraw it and 
prepare a crucible (clay or Hessian crucible), by 
dipping it in a strong solution of borax in water, 
and heating the crucible and repeating the dipping 
and heating till the crucible shows a glazed inside. 
Then transfer all the roasted powdered ore, after 
weighing it (if you desire relative quantity), into 
the crucible, and cover it with the following mixture 
(called a flux): Six times the weight of ore in lith¬ 
arge, one of dry borax, and about twenty grains of 
charcoal pulverized. Heat slowly at first, not al¬ 
lowing much foaming, until all is quiet and the 
metal button settles down at the bottom of the 
crucible. Cool and break the crucible to extract 
the button of metal, which is now ready for cupel¬ 
ling. (For this process, see p. 7 

We have given these three methods of separating 
gold from all the usual ores, any one of which may 
readily be used, and a little practice will enable the 
operator to be expert in their use. A great deal 
more depends upon the skill of the operator than 
upon the cost of his appliances. 


106 PROSrECTOR’s FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


It has not been thought necessary to give a list of 
places in the world where gold has been found, but 
in view of the excitement created by the rich finds of 
gold, in July, 1897, in the Klondike district, Alaska, 
it may be of interest here to give a brief description 
of the Yukon gold district, which besides the Klon¬ 
dike, comprises the Hootalinqua, Stewart, MacMil¬ 
lan, Forty-Mile, Sixty-Mile, Birch Creek, Munook 
Creek, Tanana and Koyukuk districts. 

Throughout nearly the whole of Alaska gold is 
found disseminated in the detritus which has been 
derived from the abrasion of the solid rocks. Often 
it is in such small amounts that it cannot be pro¬ 
fitably extracted, but sometimes it is concentrated 
by water action in such a degree as to invite min¬ 
ing. Thus far the profitable deposits have all been 
found in or near the beds of the present streams. 
These recent gravels may be divided into two chief 
classes. In the larger streams accumulations of 
gravel are made in places of slackening current, 
such as the inner or concave sides of curves. These 
accumulations are called bars, and often contain 
much gold. The other occurrence is in the small 
gulches which feed the larger streams. In the bot¬ 
tom of these gulches the gravels are frequently very 
rich in gold, and as these are easily worked, they 
constitute at the present time the most important 
class of placer deposits. 

The gold of the Yukon district is chiefly derived 
from quartz veins, which are found most abund¬ 
antly in the schists of the Forty-Mile and the Birch 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY—GOLD. 


107 


Creek series, although not infrequently in the igne¬ 
ous and pyroclastic rocks of the It am part series. It 
is also derived, although to a far less extent, from 
impregnated shear zones, which occur especially in 
the Rampart series. Of the quartz veins one set is 
sheared and one unsheared. The first is difficult to 
follow, for the veins are broken and non-persistent. 
The veins of the second set are often persistent and 
wide, and in some cases may be mined profitably. 
Impregnations along shear zones may also in some 
cases be sufficiently rich in metallic minerals to 
form ores under favorable conditions; and the rock 
in the region of these shear zones is often unfaulted, 
so that these ore bodies may be expected to be com¬ 
paratively persistent. 

The quartz veins are connected with dikes, chiefly 
light-colored crystalline rocks snch as granite and 
aplite. This should be kept in mind in prospecting, 
and auriferous veins may be looked for in the schists 
near the dikes. In some cases, although not so 
commonly, they may also occur at some distance 
from a dike. 

These gold-bearing rocks form a definite belt, 
extending in a general way from the Lower Ram¬ 
parts of the Yukon and below to Dease Lake and 
other mining districts in British Columbia, a dis¬ 
tance in a straight line of about a thousand miles. 
Of this distance, 400 or 500 miles is in American ter¬ 
ritory. The width of the belt varies chiefly with 
the minor folding, which has accompanied the 
greater plications. In this belt not only the gold- 


108 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


bearing veins, but the richest placers are found. 
This is naturally the case, since the gold in these 
placers is worn out of the solid rocks, it is especi¬ 
ally true that the rich gulch gravels are in this 
belt, and also the most paying bar gravels, although 
fine gold in some cases may be carried somewhat 
outside the belt, and may be sufficiently concen¬ 
trated in favorable situations to pay for washing. 

The Birch Creek, the Forty Mile and the Klon¬ 
dike districts are all in this belt, and are all in the 
schistose rocks, and in these rocks new deposits of 
value may be looked for. Some placer diggings of 
value may also be found in the rocks of the Ram¬ 
part series, but as a rule higher horizons are prob¬ 
ably barren, save in exceptional cases. Conglom¬ 
erate made up of the detritus from the schistose 
Birch Creek and Forty Mile rocks should be pros¬ 
pected, however, since they may prove to be fossil 
placers. Ancient gravels lying above the present 
stream channels should also be kept in mind, for 
they may in places contain sufficient gold to be pro¬ 
fitably mined. 

Rule for ascertaining the amount of gold in a lump 
of auriferous quartz , according to Phillips: 

The specific gravity of gold is 19.000. 

The specific gravity of quartz is 2.600. 

These numbers are given here merely for conven¬ 
ience in explaining the rule ; they do not accurately 
represent the specific gravities of all quartz and 
quartz gold. (The quartz gold of California has 
not, on an average, a specific gravity of more than 
18.600.) 


SPECIAL MINERALOGY-GOLD. 


109 


1. Ascertain the specific gravity of the lump. 
Suppose it to be 8.067. 

2. Deduct the specific gravity of the lump from 
the specific gravity of the gold ; the difference is 
the ratio of the quartz by volume: 19.000—8.067 
=10.933. 

3. Deduct the specific gravity of the quartz from 
the specific gravity of the lump; the difference is 
the ratio of the gold by volume: 8.067—2.600= 
5.467. 

4. Add these ratios together and proceed by the 
rule of proportion. The product is the percentage 
of gold by bulk : 10.933+5.467=16.400. Then, as 
16.400 is to 5.467, so is 1.00 to 33.35. 

5. Multiply the percentage of gold in bulk by its 
specific gravity. The product is the ratio of the 
gold in the lump by weight: 33.35x19.00=643.65. 

6. Multiply the percentage of quartz by bulk 
(which must be 66.65, since that of gold is 33.35) 
by its specific gravity. The product is the ratio of 
the quartz in the lump by weight: 66.65x2.60= 
173.29. 

7. To find the percentage, add these two ratios 
together and proceed by the rule of proportion: 
633.65-fl73.29=806.94. Then as 806.94 is to 
633.65, so is 100 to 78.53. Hence, a lump of aurif¬ 
erous quartz having a specific gravity of 8.069, con¬ 
tains 78.53 per cent, of gold by weight. (The 
Mines, Miners, and Mining Interests of the United 
States in 1882, by Wm. Ralston Balch, Phila., p. 
761.) 


CHAPTER VI. 


TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 

Tellurium Minerals. Tellurium is the only 
metal which has hitherto been found in nature 
in actual chemical combination with gold. It also 
occurs in a native state, and, combined with other 
metals, forming tellurides. The most important of 
these are given below, but tellurides of mercury, 
bismuth, lead, and nickel also exist. 

Tellurium has a bright tin-white color and a 
metallic lustre. It is brittle and very fusible, vola¬ 
tilizing almost entirely and tinging the flame green. 
White coating on charcoal. Soluble in nitric acid. 
Rare. 

Nagyagite. Lead gray, very fusible, gives a blue 
color to the flame. Rare. 

Hessite. Lead-gray, malleable, rare. 

Petzite. Streak, iron-black. Sometimes tarnished. 

Sylvanite or graphic tellurium . Streak, steel-gray 
to silver-white. Color, steel-gray. Sectile. Gives 
the flame a greenish-blue color. 

Calaverite. Streak, yellowish-gray. Massive, 
bronze-yellow, brittle, bluish-green flame. 

The most common of these minerals, petzite and 
sylvanite, are of fairly common occurrence in Colo¬ 
rado, more especially at Cripple Creek. 

( 110 ) 


TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 


Ill 


Tellurides constitute exceedingly valuable ores 
when they are sufficiently rich to allow of hand 
picking and sale to smelters, and even the poorer 
ores can be treated by roasting and either chlorina¬ 
tion or cyanidation. In many cases attempts to 
concentrate have been unsatisfactory, as the mineral 
frequently slimes a great deal; but concentration is 
said to have been successfully applied in Boulder 
County, Colorado, and the possibility depends to a 
great extent upon the nature of the ore. Specimens 
are found in many localities, but it is in compara¬ 
tively few places that workable deposits exist. 

Platinum occurs native and in flattened or 
angular grains or nuggets which are malleable. Its 
color and streak are steel-gray. Lustre metallic 
bright. Isometric, but is seldom found in crystals. 
Hardness 4 to 4.5. Specific gravity 16 to 19. As 
heavy as gold, and, therefore, easily distinguished 
and separated from lighter materials. Before the 
blow-pipe it is infusible ; not affected by borax, ex¬ 
cept as containing some metal, as iron or copper, 
which gives the reaction. Soluble only in heated 
nitro-muriatic acid. 

Platinum is occasionally found in the gold-bear¬ 
ing gravels of California and Oregon, but the an¬ 
nual production is small. There are no means of 
knowing whether it is present in sufficient abund¬ 
ance for separate mining. The prospectors, as a 
rule, do not know the value of the black sand, nor 
are they always able to distinguish it from less val¬ 
uable ores; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that 
deposits may yet be found. 


112 prospector's field-book and guide. 


The supply of platinum comes chiefly from Rus¬ 
sia, where it occurs in gravels, probably originally 
auriferous, on the Siberian side of the Ural. Since 
serpentine is usually near at hand, and the placers 
increase in richness as the rock is approached, and 
since the metal has been found in this rock, it 
seems probable that this is the source. This mode 
of occurrence of platinum and the association with 
serpentiferous rocks prevails also in other platinum- 
producing regions. Platinum is always alloyed 
with the other metals of the platinum group, irid¬ 
ium, osmium, palladium, etc., and with iron, the 
amount of platinum varying from 50 to 80 per cent. 
In Russia, as well as in other platinum-producing 
regions, chrome iron and iridosmium are associated 
with the metal. The United States now T consumes 
more platinum than any other country, incandes¬ 
cent electric lamps and other electric apparatus 
calling for a great supply. Although only a very 
minute quantity is required in each case, so many 
lamps are called for that the demand is very great, 
and the price has risen much higher than formerly. 
It may be interesting to note that the name plati¬ 
num is derived from plata, the Spanish word for 
silver, since it was regarded in South America at 
the time of its discovery (1735) as an impure ore of 
that metal. 

Platinum, like gold, does not readily combine 
w T ith other metals, and in nature the only com¬ 
pound known is an arsenide called Sperrylite, which 
is found in very small quantities in the Sudbury 


TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 


113 


section of Ontario, Canada. Its color is tin-white ; 
lustre bright; hardness about 7 ; specific gravity 
10 . 6 . 

Platinum may be distingaished by its great 
weight, by its gray color, its sectile nature, and by 
the fact that it will not dissolve in any simple acid, 
and with difficulty in nitro-muriatic acid (aqua- 
regia). It may be distinguished from lead by its 
action under the blowpipe flame, since lead melts 
immediately, leaving a yellowish coating, while 
platinum refuses to melt under the hottest flame, 
and leaves no coating whatever. When it exists in 
the alluvial soil it maybe “panned out” just as 
gold or other heavy metals, and even more easily 
because of its greater gravity. 

It may be found in some metal-bearing veins in 
crystalline metamorphic and syenite rock, from 
which it has been washed down just as in the case 
of gold. In the latter condition it has been found 
more extensively than in any other. 

Its chemical test is as follows: Dissolve the grains 
of the ore in nitro-muriatic acid (4 parts muriatic 
acid to 1 part nitric), preferably with gentle heat, 
add proto-chloride of tin (solution) also called stan¬ 
nous chloride (SnCl 2 ); if platinum is present a dark 
brownish-red color will be produced, but no precip¬ 
itate. 

The metal may be obtained separate from its gold, 
and in the presence of many other metals, by evap¬ 
orating the above solution of the ore in a porcelain 
dish to dryness, at a gentle heat with ammonium 
8 


114 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

chloride (sal ammoniac or muriate of ammonia), 
and the residue treated with dilute alcohol (one- 
fourth part water). The gold will remain in solu¬ 
tion and the platinum be precipitated, the precipi¬ 
tate to be ignited, when the platinum will be pure. 
The gold, if present, may be precipitated by adding 
a solution of ferrous sulphate, after evaporating off 
the alcohol. Ferrous sulphate is proto-sulphate of 
iron (copperas in crystals). 

Stannous chloride may readily be purchased at 
any chemist’s warehouse, but as it is easily pre¬ 
pared we give the best method as follows: File a 
piece of tin into powder and heat very hot (nearly 
to boiling) with strong hydrochloric acid in a porce¬ 
lain dish or beaker-glass, always keeping tin in the 
glass or dish, by adding tin if necessary. When no 
hydrogen gas is evolved ( i . e. no bubbles arise), 
dilute with four times its bulk of pure water, 
slightly acidulated with hydrochloric (muriatic) 
acid, and filter. Keep the filtrate in a well-stop- 
pered bottle in which some tin has been placed. If 
you have pure tin-foil, that form of tin may be used, 
for without the presence of metallic tin the stannous 
chloride (SnCl 2 ) is in danger of changing into stan¬ 
nic chloride (SnCl 4 ) with precipitation of a white 
substance (oxychloride of tin), which renders the 
reagent unfit for use. 

Iridium, a steel-white, extremely hard metal, next 
in specific gravity to osmium, is supplied partly 
from its alloy with native platinum, and partly from 
the iridosmium which occurs in the platiniferous 


TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 115 

gravels. It is used for pen-points and in jewelry, 
and recently in metal-plating. 

Osmium is the heaviest known metal. It comes 
from the same sources as iridium, and in the form 
of iridosmium is used for pointing tools and pens. 

Palladium is a brilliant silver-white metal. It 
also occurs with platinum, but on account of its 
high price is but little used. 

Silver. This metal occurs native in various 
shapes, as in small grains in the rock, as branching 
and leaf-like, and also in small octahedral crystals 
and in other forms. Hardness, 2.3 to 3 ; specific 
gravity, 10.1 to 11.1, according to its purity. It is 
never found absolutely pure, but contains some gold 
and frequently a little copper. 

It is always sectile and malleable, and in this 
respect very easily distinguished from a substance 
frequently mistaken for native silver, namely, mis- 
pickel, which is an arsenide of iron , having very 
much the appearance of silver, but always brittle. 

Before the Blow-pipe, on charcoal, native sil¬ 
ver is distinguished from tin, zinc, antimony, or 
bismuth, by the fact that it melts and leaves no 
whiteness or any other appearance of oxide upon 
the coal around the globule. 

Tin will leave a white film and lead a yellow; 
zinc a yellow which whitens on cooling. But silver 
leaves no film or cloud of any kind upon the coal. 

The Chemical Test of silver is as follows: Dis¬ 
solve the metal in nitric acid in a test-tube, prefer¬ 
ably with the heat of an alcohol flame, but not to 


116 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


the boiling point. Add an equal amount of pure 
water (clear rain water will answer), then drop in 
several drops of a solution of common table salt or 
muriatic acid. If a cloudy white precipitate occurs 
which settles and blackens after exposure, of a few 
seconds to sunlight or a few minutes to daylight, 
the substance is silver. 

It should be remembered at this point, that this 
test is for silver alone, since lead and mercury are 
also precipitated as a white cloud by the same solu¬ 
tion, but neither blackens by exposure to the light. 
This distinguishes silver. If, however, further proof 
is needed, drop into the test tube strong ammonia 
water; the precipitate is dissolved if it is that of 
silver, it is not if it be of lead, and it is blackened 
by the ammonia if it is mercury. 

If there is much copper in the silver it may be 
detected by dipping a clean strip of polished iron 
or steel into the solution, for the metallic copper 
will immediately appear upon the surface of the 
iron. 

It must not always be supposed that native silver 
is metallic or white in appearance, for it is readily 
tarnished by sulphur, and the proximity of sulphur 
in other minerals or in water may greatly discolor 
the native silver. 

Comparatively speaking, very little of the silver 
of the mines is derived from native silver. Most of 
the silver of commerce is obtained from some of the 
minerals named below, which are combinations of 
silver with other metals, and with sulphur or chlor- 


117 


TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 

ine, as sulphides of silver, etc., in which condition 
they bear no resemblance to native silver. 

But in all silver minerals of any commercial 
value, the already mentioned tests are usually suffi¬ 
cient to detect the existence of silver. 

Other forms in which silver is found are— 

Silver Sulphides are very largely associated 
with lead sulphides or galena, and sometimes called, 
when pure, silver glance or argentite. This is found 
in masses, but when crystallized it occurs in cubes 
or octahedral forms. When freshly broken it has 
a metallic lustre, otherwise it is of a dull gray or 
leaden appearance. It is sectile, and its “ streak ” 
or the color of its powder is the same as that of the 
mineral itself, and rather shining. Chemical com¬ 
position: silver 87; sulphur 18. Hardness 2 to 2.5. 
Specific gravity 7.1 to 7.4. 

The ore is soluble in nitric acid, and on adding 
common salt to the solution a white curd is thrown 
down which blackens on exposure to sunlight. It 
is very fusible, giving off an odor of sulphur when 
heated. Before the blow-pipe on charcoal, with or 
without carbonate of scda, it yields a white globule 
of metallic silver which can be flattened under a 
hammer. 

The ore occurs in veins in granite, porphyry, and 
slate, with arsenic, silver and lead ores. 

Horn Silver (Ccrargyrile is the mineralogical 
name). The mineral known under these names is 
a chloride of silver occurring in massive form and 
sometimes in crystals. It has a resinous lustre and 


118 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

yields a shining streak. It is translucent on the 
extreme edges, and has a waxy appearance. It cuts 
like horn or w r ax, and on an outcrop looks like dirty 
cement. It contains 75.3 per cent, silver, and 24.7 
per cent, chlorine when unmixed or nearly pure, 
and then has a pearly-gray or greenish-gray ap¬ 
pearance. 

A polished piece of iron may be slightly coated 
with silver if a piece of horn silver is moistened 
and rubbed upon the iron. 

Horn silver is very easily fusible, it melting in 
the flame of a candle. Heated with carbonate of 
soda on charcoal, it yields a globule of metallic 
silver. 

This mineral, in various degrees of impurity, 
forms a very large part of the silver-bearing ores of 
some mines in South America, as well as in the 
Western States and Territories of the United States. 
It is a valuable ore. 

Brittle Silver Ore (Stephanite is the minera- 
logical name) is a silver sulphide with antimony , and 
is found in masses and sometimes in rhombic prism 
crystals. It is easily distinguished from silver sul¬ 
phide (or glance) by the fact that it is brittle, while 
the glance, if fairly pure, may be cut with a knife 
in chips without breaking. 

This ore is black or iron gray, has a hardness of 
2 to 2.5 and a specific gravity of 6.2 to 6.3, and 
when pure, contains 71 per cent, of silver, the rest 
being antimony with some other admixtures, usu¬ 
ally iron or copper. It is an abundant silver ore in 


TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 


119 


the Comstock Lode, Nevada (Figs. 41, 42), in the 
Reese River and Humboldt and other regions, and 
at the silver mines in Idaho. 

On charcoal, under the blow-pipe, it decrepitates 
and coats the coal with a film of antimony (anti- 
monous acid), which, after considerable blowing, 
turns red, and a globule of silver is obtained. 

Red Silver Ore, or Ruby Silver, is an ore 
which contains arsenic and antimony, or more usu¬ 
ally arsenic or antimony. That containing only 
antimony is a dark red and is known mineralogic- 
ally as Pyrargyrite; it contains 59.8 per cent, 
silver, 17.7 per cent, sulphur, and 22.5 per cent, of 
antimony. It occurs generally in crystals. When 
the silver sulphide is associated with arsenic only, 
the color is light red and the name Proustite is 
applied to it. It contains G5.5 per cent, of silver. 
It may contain both arsenic and antimony, and 
have a grayish appearance. In Idaho, it has been 
found in masses of several hundred pounds weight, 
at Poorman Lode (Dana). In Mexico it is worked 
extensively as an ore of silver. 

Bromic Silver or Bromyrite. This is a com¬ 
mon ore containing bromine 42.G per cent, and sil¬ 
ver 57.4 per cent. 

There are other minerals in which silver occurs, 
but they are only exceptions or rare, and if one is 
acquainted with those mentioned above, he will 
very likely detect the rarer silver minerals which 
are not ores in the usual sense, but they may lead 
when discovered to valuable results. 


120 


PROSPECTOR S FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


Valuing silver ores. A simple, but rough, method 
is sometimes adopted of testing the value of ores 
from day to day when chlorides are the minerals 
chiefly worked, by powdering the ore in the mine, 
mixing it with a solution of hyposulphite of lime 
which dissolves the chloride, and then adding 
sodium sulphide, which forms a dark colored pre¬ 
cipitate if much silver is present. It is evidently 
impossible to estimate in this way the contents of 
silver, but it affords a very good test whether the 
ore is of value or not. 

Geology of Silver Ores. The most valuable 
ores occur in the earlier or more ancient rocks, such 
as the granitic or gneissoid rocks, clay slates, mica 
schists, older limestones, and in the metamorphic 
rocks. The remarkable geologic conditions under 
which silver ores and veins occur may be under¬ 
stood more readily by the following diagrams than 
by any descriptions without them. (Figs. 41 and 42.) 

In the diagrams the rocks are seen tilted up from 
the horizontal position to one nearly vertical, but 
evidently after this uplifting the trachytic dykes 
were shot through the masses of conglomerate. 
The lodes bearing silver are represented by contin¬ 
uous double lines, and the dykes by dotted vertical 
lines. The entire distance represented from Sutro 
to the west end of the diagram is about 5J miles, 
on a course east and west, being the same as that of 
the Sutro tunnel upon this branch, which joins or 
intersects to the north and south branch of the 
tunnel at the Comstock lode. 


TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 


121 


In order that the superficial nature of the country 
may be understood, we have given the north and 
south section of the same region, showing some of 
the mines by vertical black lines and by shaded 
spaces where the mines have been worked more or 
less extensively. (Fig. 42.) 

The north and south section exhibits the hilly 
surface, and fully illustrates the work of the pros¬ 
pector who would become acquainted with the min¬ 
eral deposits of a similar region. 

It will be seen in the east and west section that 
all the lodes outcrop. (Fig. 41.) The non-metallic 
substances of these lodes are quartz, fluorspar, with, 
perhaps, some chlorides or sulphides; the latter may 
be metallic, and there may occur some traces of 
gold and silver, perhaps also of antimony, lead, etc. 
The wisest course, therefore, is for the prospector, 
after having settled in which direction the strike or 
course of the strata runs, to make an examination 
directly across the strata, the chief object being to 
learn the nature of the rocks of the region, and, at 
the same time, to detect the outcropping of any 
lodes or dykes. 

His object is to become acquainted with the strata 
by means of the loose material, the fragments, or 
small outcropping rocks, where he cannot penetrate 
beneath the soil. 

It may become necessary to traverse a great dis¬ 
tance before any certain information ma} r be gained, 
and where the hill surfaces are covered with soil, 
the ravines will frequently disclose the nature of 
the rock. 


Fig. 41. 


122 prospector’s field-book and guide. 



Syenitic rock. Conglomerate rocks with dykes of Feldspathic rocks. 

trachytic rock. 







































TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 123 

It will be noticed that the Comstock Lode begins 
immediately adjoining the syenite rock, and at the 
outcrop extends six or eight times the actual thick¬ 
ness of the lode below. It is also apparent that the 
lodes generally, at least in this region, bifurcate 
near the surface, even in the syenite, and when an 
outcrop has been discovered, the probability is that 
not far off another outcrop of the same lode may be 
found (Fig. 41). 

The Comstock Lode has been traced for four or 
five miles north and south, but the values of the 
deposits are not uniform. The great bodies of 
ore may be seen in the north and south section 
where the excavations are largest, as around the 
Savage, and from the Exchequer to the Crown 
Point properties. But this whole region is filled 
with dykes and lodes for miles beyond the Com¬ 
stock Lode, which lies on the eastern slope of a 
range of hills running somewhat parallel, but about 
fifteen miles east of the great Sierra Nevada range, 
south of the Pacific Railroad, and between the lakes 
Bigler and Carson in the western part of the State. 

In the east of Nevada, at the Eureka Mines, the 
ores are found in a bed of limestone overlying the 
granites, quartzose slates, and metarnorphic rocks of 
great thickness. The limestone containing the ore 
is about 300 feet thick. But while the immediate 
geology varies from that of the Comstock, the general 
facts are the same, namely, that the silver-bearing 
lodes are in or very near the granites or earliest 
rocks. In this case the overlying rocks, though 


124 PROSPECTOR'S FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE, 




I 

| 

© 

r 





NORTH AND SOUTH SECTION OF THE COMSTOCK LODE, SHOWING THE MINES AND THE SURFACE. 






















































TELLURIUM, PLATINUM, SILVER. 


125 


limestone, are dolomitic, containing from 3G to 46 
per cent of carbonate of magnesia, and the miner¬ 
alized belt of limestone, or that containing the ores, 
is very much broken, and in some places apparently 
crushed, as if it had been subjected to a grinding 
process, and then partly rejoined by the cementing 
power of calcareous matter deposited from solution 
in percolating water. 

A peculiarity in this last described limestone is 
found in the large caverns which occur along the 
course of mineral deposit. On the floors of these 
caverns are found beds of ore which seem to have 
dropped from their position in the limestone, as 
that has been dissolved out and carried off where 
the fissures easily permitted the percolating waters 
to pass rapidly away. 

The geology of this region appears to be in the 
order of granites, quartzose slates, and metamorphic 
rocks of great thickness, limestones containing segre¬ 
gations of ore, calcareous shales, and these sur¬ 
mounted by limestones also of great thickness. The 
special region to which this geological series refers 
is in the Ruby Hill mines. 

The Emma Mine, with many others, is situated 
still further east, in the Wahsatch range of moun¬ 
tains, which runs north and south about twenty 
miles east of the Great Salt Lake. This mine is 
about the same distance southeast of the Great Salt 
Lake. The adjacent rocks of this mine are granite, 
in massive beds dipping from 50° to 70° eastward. 
This is overlaid by quartzites of a reddish color, 


126 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


then occurs a series of slates, upon which are thick 
beds of white limestone, and these pass rapidly into 
the carboniferous dolomitic limestone. It is in 
these last limestones that the ore deposits of the 
Emma and adjacent mines are worked. 

It is a fact, however, that the ores are mainly 
composed of silica and lead, of which there is over 
70 per cent. The amount of silver is about 0.40 to 
0.50 of 1 per cent, according to some analyses. A 
sample amount of 82 tons, gross, yielded 156 ounces 
of silver. 

These three mining districts present the general 
geologic conditions in which the silver ores are 
found in these and other States and Territories, and 
the prospector should expect to find surface indica¬ 
tions accordingly, but modified more or less by ex¬ 
posure to weather. 

Although, from the preceding illustrations, silver 
is shown to be found both in the very early groups 
of rocks and in the carboniferous limestone, the 
latter is the exception, as it appears to be found 
there only when that limestone has occurred with 
little or no separating horizons from the earliest 
rocks. 


CHAPTER VII. 


COPPER. 

Copper. It occurs both native and in a compound 
state. Native copper is found in various shapes, 
and even in octahedral crystals. Its color is copper 
red; it is always sectile and malleable; hardness 
2.5 to 3, specific gravity 8.5 to 8.9, according to 
purity. Frequently associated with native silver. 
It is tested by the blow-pipe; giving in small quan¬ 
tities blue tinge to almost black in the borax bead, 
according to quantity used, and the kind of flame, 
whether inner or R, or outer or 0, the latter giving 
blue color, the former giving the copper color or 
metallic opaque brown. 

Chemically , it dissolves readily in nitric acid, and, 
if ammonia be added, the solution becomes green, 
or greenish-blue if ammonia be in excess. 

In the absence of any chemicals or a blow-pipe, 
the mineral, when containing native copper, or 
when only a compound containing copper, may be 
tested by heating it either in the mass, or, better, in 
powder, and when hot, dropping it into some salty 
grease and then putting it in a flame or upon burn¬ 
ing charcoal, when the characteristic green color 
will appear in the flame with great distinctness. 

Moreover, if the mineral contains copper in con- 
(127) 


12S prospector’s field-book and guide. 

siderable quantity and it is dissolved in nitric acid, 
the copper will be deposited immediately upon a 
strip of polished iron or upon the end of a knife 
blade, if either be dipped into the solution. 

Various minerals contain copper, but many in so 
small proportions that it would not be lucrative to 
work them as ores, We mention several of the 
more important ores of copper, and also some copper 
minerals, which, to the prospector, will be suggestive 
that the more important ores are not far off. 

Red copper ore or ruby copper (Cuprite is the 
mineralogical name): Occurs massive, granular, and 
earthy; brittle; if in crystals, octahedral and twelve¬ 
sided ;' nearly opaque; deep red or ruby colored, 
sometimes weathered to an iron-gray cn the surface; 
hardness 3.5 to 4 ; specific gravity 8. Composed of 
copper 88.78 per cent., the remainder oxygen when 
pure. 

Before the blow-pipe, on charcoal,, it yields a 
globule of metallic copper; with borax bead gives 
the indications of copper. It forms a blue solution 
in nitric acid. These tests distinguish it from red 
oxide of iron. It occurs in granite and slate with 
copper ores and galena, and forms a valuable source 
of the metal. 

Copper Glance or Vitreous Copper {Chalcocite 
is the mineralogical name)—massive—slightly sec- 
tile ; color blackish-gray, tarnishing to blue or green. 
Hardness 2.5-3; specific gravity 5.5-5.8. Composed 
of copper 77.2 ; sulphur 20.6, and sometimes of a 
little iron. It is fusible in a candle flame. 


COPPER. 


129 


Before the blow-pipe it gives off an odor of sul¬ 
phur. When heated on charcoal, a malleable 
globule of metallic copper remains, tarnished black, 
but rendered evident on flattening under a hammer. 
With borax bead it gives the indications of copper. 
Dissolves in nitric acid, forming a blue solution. 
These tests distinguish it from sulphide of silver. 
Occurs with other copper-ores. 

Gray Copper (Tetrahedrite is the mineralogical 
name): brittle; steel-gray or iron-black, sometimes 
brownish ; hardness 3-4 ; specific gravity 4.75-5.1. 
Composed of copper 38.6, sulphur 26.3, and fre¬ 
quently antimony and arsenic, zinc, iron, silver, etc. 
It frequently contains silver and sometimes as much 
as 25 to 30 per cent. Before the blow-pipe it gives 
a bead of copper or of copper and silver. It occurs 
with copj)er pyrites, galena and blende. This ore 
is wrought for copper and occasionally for silver. 

Copper pyrites (Chalcojyyritc is the mineralogical 
name). Massive. Color is a brass yellow, sometimes 
tarnished and iridescent. Hardness 3.5 to 4, specific 
gravity 4.15. Composed of copper 34.6 ; sulphur 
34.9 ; iron 30.5. Before the blow-pipe it fuses to a 
magnetic globule on charcoal, and with borax me¬ 
tallic copper is the result. It is sometimes mistaken 
for gold, or iron, or tin pyrites. But it is brittle, 
gold is not; it will not strike fire as does iron 
pyrites; and it may be distinguished from tin 
pyrites by the film that tin pyrites leaves on the 
charcoal, while copper pyrites leaves no residue 
under the blow-pipe. It occurs in granite and 
9 


130 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

slate in lodes or veins, and is a valuable ore of 
copper. 

What is called peacock ore is only pyrites coated 
with oxide and exhibiting iridescent colors. By 
leaving a piece of clean yellow copper pyrites in 
water for some time it will become coated in this 
way. 

Silicate of Copper (Chrysocolla is the minera- 
logical name) is a bright-green or bluish-green 
mineral, scarcely worthy of being called an ore, 
although it contains from 35 to 40 per cent, copper 
and a large amount of silica. It is a secondary de¬ 
posit. Its hardness is 2 to 4, and specific gravity 
2 to 2.3. Its only significance to the prospector is 
that it may be associated with true ores. Its powder 
(streak) is white, while the mineral itself is green; 
this is due to the quartz or silex in the mineral. It 
does not entirely dissolve in nitric acid. Before 
the blow-pipe with soda, it gives a bead of copper. 

Black oxide of copper is usually found on the 
surface, and is generally due to the decomposition 
of some sulphide or other copper ore. It occurs in 
masses of a dark, earthy appearance, and sometimes 
m minute shining particles, and soils the fingers 
when handled. 

Malachite, green carbonate of copper , has a 
fibrous structure nearly opaque, and of an emerald- 
green color, and contains about 57 per cent, of 
copper. In hardness it is 3.5 to 4, and in specific 
gravity 3.6 to 4. 

Before the blow-pipe it becomes blackish. With 


COPPER. 


131 


borax it yields the usual blue-green bead, and on 
charcoal is reduced to metallic copper. It com¬ 
plete^ dissolves in nitric acid, and thus it may be 
distinguished from silicate of copper, which has 
nearly the same color and will not dissolve. 

Blue Carbonate of copper (Azurite is the min- 
eralogical name) is only used for ornamental pur¬ 
poses. It is of a deep blue color, sometimes trans¬ 
parent, brittle, and gives a bluish streak. It has a 
hardness of 3.5 to 4.5 and a specific gravity of 3.7 
to 4. Can be scratched with a knife. It blackens 
when heated. On charcoal it is reduced to a 
globule of pure copper. With the borax bead it 
gives the indications of copper. It is soluble in 
nitric acid with effervescence, forming a blue 
solution. 

Variegated Copper Pyrites (Bornite is the min- 
eralogical name, but is also called Erubiscite ): 
usually massive, of a copper-red to a pinchbeck- 
brown color and a blackish to lead-gray streak. 
Hardness 2.5 to 3, specific gravity 5.5 to 5.8. It 
contains 79.8 per cent, copper and 20.2 per cent, of 
sulphur. Before the blow-pipe it gives a bead of 
copper. 

The geology of copper is more varied than that 
of many other metals, as it occurs in rocks of almost 
every age. In Cornwall the slates are more pro¬ 
ductive than the granites, while in our mines in the 
Eastern States the new red sandstone, the carbon¬ 
iferous limestone, and silurian rocks furnish copper. 
Also found in the metamorphic limestone, near 


132 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


slate (Fig. 43). In the Lake Superior region, where 
large deposits of native copper are found, the rocks 
are sandstones and shales underlying green-stone or 
a kind of trap, and in some places seem to be igne- 

Fig. 43. 


b b b b 



Section of the copper bed at the Dolly Hide mine, Maryland, a, 
Slate, 6, b, b, b, Ore beds or segregations of ore. c, c, c, c, Crystalline lime¬ 
stone (metamorpliic). 

ous (Figs. 44, 45). Ruby copper ore occurs in Ari¬ 
zona between quartzose and hornblendic rocks and 
limestone. It occurs in both lodes and deposits, 
and the best way for the prospector to prepare for 
actual discovery is to make himself well acquainted 
with the copper compounds, whether ores or miner¬ 
als. They may indicate true ores, although they 
contain little copper. 

To become ready in the detection of copper as an 
ore the following facts should be kept in mind, as 
furnishing suggestions for skillful practice. (Figs. 
43, 44, and 45.) 










COPPER. 


133 


It is well to remember, especially when exploring 
a new country, that copper is frequently associated 
with rocks of a dark color, which are very often 
green ; but it must not be supposed that the color 
is imparted by copper, for it is generally due either 

Fig. 44. 


OB. 



Section of strata in Lake Superior copper region, a, Granite, b, Gneis- 
soid. c, Greenstone, hornblende, conglomerates with interstratified slates. 
d, Slaty rocks and traps, etc. e, Potsdam sandstone. C, C, Places of copper 
deposits. 0, B, Iron ore beds. Section from N. W. to S. E. 

to some other metal, such as iron, or to the presence 
of a green non-metallic mineral, such as chlorite. 
Serpentines and hornblendic rocks are often associ¬ 
ated with copper ores, but green serpentines owe 
their color to iron, nickel or chromium, and if cop- 


Fig. 45. 



Copper. Section of the Eagle vein, Lake Supfrior. a, Poryphyritic 
rocks, b, Greenstone, c, c, Conglomerate, d, d, d, Amygdaloid bearing cop¬ 
per. e, e, e, Shafts. /, Montreal River. 


per is found disseminated through some of them, it 
is the exception and not the rule, unless in the 
immediate vicinity of ore deposits. On the con¬ 
trary, iron and chromium are found in all serpen¬ 
tines, and nickel frequently occurs. 



















134 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

All copper ores weigh more than quartz or lime¬ 
stone, and the comparative weights should be so 
well known by practice that there should be on 
hesitation in judging that the mineral you hold is 
more than 2.6 in specific gravity, 2.6 being that of 
either quartz or limestone. 

Next examine the mineral with your pocket lens 
for any evidence of copper, such as green or bluish 
spots, or brassy points or particles; if found, chip 
one off and use the blow-pipe with borax bead or 
with soda or borax on charcoal. If the character¬ 
istic color appears, it is copper. Now proceed with 
other parts of the specimen. If a sulphury smell is 
plain, it is probably a sulphide. Place a small chip 
upon a depression in the charcoal, cover with soda 
or borax, turn the inner flame upon it and reduce 
to a metallic globule ; if it shows the color of copper 
and is malleable, it is copper; if it blackens apply 
your magnetized knife-blade, and if it is attracted 
the mineral contains iron, and it may contain both 
iron and copper. 

The next work is to examine the region to gather 
any other specimens and evidences of true ores, 
before attempting to know more of any particular 
specimen. If the surface specimens are numerous 
it may be well to gather some six or eight and pro¬ 
ceed to an examination as to the available copper. 
This is now the work of the chemist, and should be 
submitted to him. But as the skillful prospector 
frequently wishes to be his own chemist, where 
work for the desired object is not difficult nor very 


COPPER. 


135 


complicated, we give the following simple process of 
arriving at the per cent, of copper in an ore without 
regard to other elements contained therein : 

To OBTAIN THE PER CENT. OF COPPER IN AN ORE. 

The only chemicals needed are nitric acid, ammonia, 
and sodium sulphide—the colorless crystallized hy¬ 
drosulphide of soda of commerce is good enough. 
All the apparatus needed is a glass flask or tall 
beaker-glass and a marked tall glass called a burette. 
This glass may be obtained at any chemical ware¬ 
house. The burette is marked in cubie inches or 
cubic centimetres, from 25 to 100. Dissolve some 
sodium sulphide in clear rain-water—about a half 
ounce to a pint. Keep the solution in a glass- 
stoppered bottle. Obtain some pure copper (ordi¬ 
nary good copper wire will answer), weigh the piece 
accurately and dissolve in nitric acid, add some 
water (twice the amount of acid used, or a little 
more), then add ammonia until, when stirred with 
a long piece of glass or glass rod, the solution smells 
strongly of ammonia. The ammonia must be in ex¬ 
cess. Now fill the burette with sodium sulphide to 
the 100 mark, and from the burette pour into the 
copper solution until the blue color of copper en¬ 
tirely disappears; note on the burette by its marks 
the exact amount of sodium sulphide used. That 
amount represents the weight of the amount of cop¬ 
per used. 

Now for the ore : Pulverize some of the averaged 
ore, weigh it, and treat it as you did the copper 
with nitric acid and ammonia, and proceed with 


136 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

the sodium sulphide. When the ore solution has 
become entirely colorless, note what amount of 
sodium sulphide solution you have used, and you 
may then calculate the exact amount of copper in 
the ore by simple proportion. The presence of tin, 
zinc, lead, iron, cadmium, antimony, arsenic, or 
bismuth in the ore does not interfere with the oper¬ 
ation. But silver does. Therefore, a small amount 
of the ore must be dissolved in nitric acid (free from 
all muriatic acid or chlorine, as this would precipi¬ 
tate the silver before you would notice it), and 
tested by dropping into the solution a drop or two 
of hydrochloric acid or solution of common table 
salt (sodium chloride). If any silver exists in the 
ore a milky cloudiness will appear, of a density 
greater or less, in accordance with the amount of 
silver present. If no silver appears, then you may 
proceed as already directed. If silver does appear, 
then the solution containing the weighed ore must 
first be treated with the salt solution or diluted 
hydrochloric acid, until all cloudiness or white pre¬ 
cipitate entirely ceases. The solution of ore now 
contains no silver, and you may proceed as directed. 

This process is sufficiently accurate for all assays 
provided the following precautions are observed :— 

1. Heat the copper solution, after adding the am¬ 
monia, to boiling point or little below while adding 
the sodium sulphide. 2. Add a little ammonia to 
the ammoniacal solution to keep it from losing 
ammonia by evaporation. 3. When the blue am¬ 
moniacal solution begins to lose its color, drop the 


COPPER. 


137 


sodium sulphide in cautiously, so as not to exceed 
the amount necessary to exactly precipitate the cop¬ 
per and no more. 

Note the precipitates: The sodium sulphide first 
produces its black precipitate of copper sulphide, 
but before that takes place the ammonia will pro¬ 
duce another precipitate, provided the copper con¬ 
tains any lead or tin. If the copper contains zinc, 
that will be precipitated immediately following the 
black copper sulphide, but will be white. If it con¬ 
tains any cadmium, that will be precipitated at the 
very moment the decoloration takes place, if the 
adding of the sodium sulphide is continued. Cad¬ 
mium is known by a beautiful clear yellow precipi¬ 
tate. With care and skill each may be noticed. 

In simply determining the amount of copper, 
however, no regard need be had to any of these 
precipitates, only pay attention to the point of de¬ 
coloration. 

The sodium sulphide may need proving to see if 
it has lost any of its strength if kept long, and this 
may be done by a new trial with a new solution 
holding a known amount of copper. Or, exactly 
the same weight of crystals of sodium sulphide to 
the same amount of pure water may be used as 
before, and the old solution thrown away. Or, by 
re-testing the sodium sulphide the same solution 
may be used for a long time and if it has become 
weakened, make allowance for the additional so¬ 
dium sulphide required. It should be kept in a 
cool place, out of the sun and light also. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


LEAD AND TIN. 

Lead. It very rarely occurs native; it then has 
a hardness of 1.5 and specific gravity 11.3 to 11.4. 
But the most usual ore of lead is the sulphide called 
Galena. When chemically pure it contains 86.55 
lead and 13.45 sulphur. Its gravity is 7.2 to 7.6, 
according to admixtures. Streak, lead-gray. Color, 
metallic lead-grav. Easily recognized by the char¬ 
acteristic cubical cleavage which is very easily 
obtained, or granular structure when massive. 
Frequently associated with other metallic sulphides 
such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, blende, 
etc. It occurs in veins, the gangue of which is 
either quartz, calcite, barite or fluorspar, in granite 
and nearly all varieties of rock, hut the larger 
deposits are usually found either in veins or in 
pockets, often of great size, in limestone strata. 

Galena almost always contains silver, and hence 
all galenas should be tested for silver. 

Test for Silver in Galena. Powder the 
galena and dissolve it in strong nitric acid (fuming 
acid is best, which we have described), then dip a 
piece of polished copper strip, and, if silver exists in 
any amount, there will be formed a film of silver on 
(138) 


LEAD AND TIN. 


139 


the copper. If the film becomes decidedly silvery, 
and in a short time, the ore should he laid aside for 



NIAGARA LIMESTONE. 


f Galena limestone which bears lead. 

3 5 j Trenton limestone, fossils. 

j \v - , g ailt j s t ones shales, and calcareous beds. 

SILURIAN 1 T ’ . 

| Lower magnesian limestones. 


Lower limit of lead. 


WHITE POTSDAM SANDSTONE. 


' Upper— 


Fossiliferous slates. 

CAMBRIAN 

Lower— 


Dolomitic limestones. 

Dark sandstones. 

1 


Order of Strata in the Lead District of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. 


a more careful analysis, directions for which we 
give below. The geology and form of lodes of the 
galena ores are seen in Figs. 46, 47. 

Fig. 46. 



Lead Lode in Micaceous Slate in Mine near Middletown, Conn. 

In several regions, but very extensively in Colo- 








140 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


rado, a rich carbonate of lead lias been found. (Fig. 
47.) 

Carbonate of Lead ( Cerussite, mineralogical 
name). If perfectly pure, its composition is lead 
83.6, carbonic acid 16.4. As a mineral its hardness 
is 3 to 3.5, its specific gravity 6.4 to 6.5. Color (if 
freshly broken), white to gray, or even black, if it 
has been much weathered. If in good condition it 
is translucent, or even transparent. Very brittle. 
If it contains copper it is usually tinged blue or 
green. It has a glassy or vitreous appearance, and 
is easily melted before the blow-pipe, and a lead 
bead or globule is readily obtained. 


Fig. 47. 



Section of strata in California Gulch, Colorado, showing portion of 
the carbonate of lead deposits, a, Porphyritic rock, 12 to 100 ft. thick, b, 
Thin bed of white clay, c, Carbonate of lead bed, 1 to 20 ft. thick, d, Oxide 
of iron, 1 to 6 1't. thick, e, e, Limestone. /, Clay slates, g, Quartzites and 
metamorphic rocks resting upon gneiss. 
























LEAD AND TIN. 


141 


By using a little bone-ash plastered in a hollow in 
the coal and turning the 0 F upon the lead, after a 
little skillful blowing the lead is absorbed and 
drawn off and a bright silver globule remains, pro¬ 
vided the lead contains silver. This is blow-pipe 
cupelling. 

Sulphate of lead often accompanies the carbon¬ 
ate. It somewhat resembles the carbonate, although 
it is of slightly less hardness, 2.75 to 3, specific 
gravity 6.12 to 6.3. It may be distinguished from 
the carbonate by the fact that it does not effervesce in 
an acid , as the latter always will. Its mineralogical 
name is anglesite. It is composed of lead oxide 73.6 
and sulphuric acid 26.4 in the pure specimens. 

There are many other minerals containing lead, 
but as they do not come properly under the denom¬ 
ination of ores, we omit them. At the same time it 
is well to become somewhat accpiainted with them. 
The blow-pipe will always enable the prospector to 
determine the presence of lead. 

Phosphate of Lead. Mineralogically, pyro- 
morphite. Composition, when pure, 89.7 phosphate 
and 10.3 chromate of lead, with arsenate of lead (0 
to 9), phosphate of lime (0.11), and fluoride of cal¬ 
cium. Hardness 3.5 to 4 ; specific gravity, 6.5 to 7 ; 
color , green with modifications. It has a resinous 
lustre and is translucent; contains 78 per cent. lead. 
Heated on charcoal before the blow-pipe a globule 
is formed which takes on a crystalline appearance 
on cooling, leaving a yellow oxide of lead on the 
charcoal. With carbonade of soda in the reducing 


142 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

flame it yields a yellow globule. It is soluble in 
nitric acid. 

Chromate of Lead is a yellow mineral contain¬ 
ing protoxide of lead 68.15, chromic acid 31.85. 
Hardness 2.5 to 3; specific gravity 5.9 to 6.1. 
Color, various shades of bright hyacinth-red, streak 
(powder) orange-vellow. Lustre, vitreous. Trans¬ 
lucent, and sectile. Mineralogical name is crocoite. 

Lead ochre, massicot mineralogically. This 
mineral occurs massive, as a compact earth of a 
sulphury-yellow or reddish-yellow appearance. It 
has a hardness of 2, a specific graxity of 8, and, 
when pure, 9.2. It is composed of oxygen 7.17, 
lead 92.83. Before the blow-pipe it fuses readily to 
a yellow glass, and on charcoal is easily reducible 
to metallic lead. 

Lead-Antimony Ores. There are several com¬ 
pounds of lead with antimony, but they are never 
sufficiently plentiful to be considered as-ores. One 
of these, jamesonite, contains small proportions of 
iron, copper, zinc and bismuth. It occurs in gray 
fibrous masses or small prisms, and is found in 
Cornwall associated with quartz and bournonite. 
Another of these compounds, zinkenite , resembles 
stibnite and bournonite, and occurs in an antimony 
mine in the ILartz. 

The geology of lead. Almost all the galenas 
and the carbonates contain silver, and some of the 
latter, as in Colorado, contain large quantities of 
silver. The geology of lead is very much the same 
as that of silver. 


LEAD AND TIN. 


143 


These ores are found in veins and lodes, and also 
in flats and beds, and in pockets (Fig. 48). The 
galenas occur in limestones, called the “galena 
limestones,” a yellowish-gray, hard, compact, crys¬ 
talline rock. The lowest horizon of lead ore in 
workable quantities lies above that of copper. 

“ The limestones and underlying schists are, for 
the most part, in a metamorphic condition, and 
there can be no difficulty, from the presence of 
porphyry above and the quartzites and gneiss 
below, in recognizing their position,” * as in the 
Cambro-silurian system. It is supposed that the 
largest proportion of silver is contained in the ore 
derived from this geologic horizon. 


Fig. 48. 



Section of Galena limestone showing how the lead occurs in lodes, a, flats, 
b, b, b, and pockets, c, from mere threads to several feet of thickness. 


Where water has had its course, however, the 
condition of a mine and of its veins and beds of ore 

*B. C. Davies, F. G. S. A Treatise on Metalliferous Min¬ 
erals, London, 1892, p. 259. 



































144 PROSPECTOR/S FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


may have been changed. Robert Hunt, as it re¬ 
gards British mines, says, that the circulation of 
water in the veins is affected by the inclination of 
the strata in the direction of the vein. The richest 
deposits are found in that portion of strata which is 
the most elevated, for instance, on the side of a 
powerful cross vein, thus: 


Fig. 49. 



The circulation of water is dependent upon an 
outlet at a lower level. 

In the case of lead mines, it is stated that in 
consequence of the conditions connected with the 
descent of water, the richest deposits of lead are 
generally found at no great distance from the out¬ 
cropping of the containing rock. Veins which run 
on the sides of a mountain in a direction nearly 
parallel with the valleys contain more extensive 
deposits of lead than those which cross the valleys 
at right angles.* 

The prospector should keep this suggestion in 
mind. 

The lead ores are found in the fissures where they 

* British Mining, by Robert Hunt, London, 1884, p. 844. 




LEAD AND TIN. 


145 


seem to have been deposited by waters which have 
dissolved them out from neighboring beds (Fig. 50). 


Fig. 50. 



Section of a Lead Deposit in a Fissure in the Limestone. Williams & 
Co.’s Mine, Wisconisn. B, B, B, B, limestone. A, the fissure running down- 
C, C, C, C, masses of ore. Metamorphic. 

Tin. When a tin-bearing mineral is heated be¬ 
fore the blow-pipe with carbonate of soda or char¬ 
coal, white metallic tin is yielded. By dissolving 
this in hydrochloric acid and adding metallic zinc, 
the tin will be deposited in a spongy form. In the 
blow-pipe assay tin leaves behind a white deposit 
which cannot be driven off in either flame. If it 
be moistened with nitrate of cobalt solution, the 
deposit becomes bluish green, and this test distin¬ 
guishes it from other metals. 

Assay of tin ore. If the ore is poor it should be 
concentrated, the vein-stuff being got rid of as much 
as possible. If mixed with iron or copper pyrites, 
it should be calcined or else treated with acids. 
One method is to mix the ore with one-fifth of its 
weight of anthracite coal or charcoal, and expose it 
10 




















146 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


in a crucible to a great heat for about twenty min¬ 
utes. The contents are then poured out into an 
iron mould, and the slag carefully examined for 
buttons. 

Another method is to mix 100 grains of the ore 
with six times its weight of cyanide of potassium, 
and expose the mixture to the heat of a good fire 
for twenty minutes. The contents are allowed to 
cool and afterwards broken to remove the slag. 

The usual ore of tin is the oxide (binoxide) whose 
typical composition is tin 78.38, oxygen 21.62, 
hardness 6 to 7, specific gravity 6.8 to 7. It is, as 
a mineral, called cassiterite, and contains small 
quantities of iron, copper, manganese, tungsten, 
tantalic acid, arsenic, sometimes silica, and rarely 
lime. It occurs massive and in crystals, also in 
botryoidal and reniform shapes, concentric in struc¬ 
ture and radiated fibrous, internally, and is then, in 
the last form, called “ivood tin” from its woody ap¬ 
pearance. Tocid’s-eye tin is the last described, but in 
very small shot-like grains, and stream tin is the 
same only in form of sand, found near or in 
streams. 

Tin ore (binoxide) is nearly as hard as quartz, 
and will scratch glass, especially if freshly broken. 
Pure crystals are rare. They are nearly transpar¬ 
ent, but in the mass, as it occurs in the mines in 
Dakota and in many other places, the ore is a dark 
brown color, and sometimes almost black ; the fine 
powder or streak as made by a file, is light brown, 
however dark the mineral may be. The brown 


LEAD AND TIN. 


147 


color or shade is due to oxide of iron in composi¬ 
tion ; if perfectly free from all associated impurities 
it would be nearly white or colorless. The usual 
appearance in mass or pebbles or finer, is that of a 
dirty or burned-brown color with varying depths of 
shade. 

In the pebble form it is apt to wear quite smooth, 
due to its extreme hardness. 

It was in this form that it was discovered in 
Banca, in 1710, and in the neighboring island, 
Billiton, and traced to its source in the mountains, 
where the central rock is granite, covered by quartz¬ 
ites, altered sand-stones, and slaty rocks. The 
altered sandstone just above the granite is the most 
productive rock, and it is traversed in all directions 
with tourmaline.* The same general associations 
largely exist in Wyoming and Dakota tin mines. 

There is another mineral containing tin which 
may lead to the discovery of the true ore. It re¬ 
quires only a short description, which we give. 

Tin pyrites (sulphide of tin) whose composition is, 
as a mineral, 29 to 30 sulphur, 25 to 31 tin, 29 to 
30 copper, with iron and sometimes zinc. It has 
been dug as an ore of copper and called “ bell- 
metal Its hardness is 4, specific gravity 4.3 to 
4.5 ; has a metallic lustre; color, steel-gray to black, 
often yellowish from the presence of copper sul¬ 
phide ; it is opaque and brittle. 

With nitric acid it affords a . blue solution, and 

* D. C. Davies, F. G. S. Metalliferous Minerals, London, 
1892, p. 184. 


148 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

sulphur and tin oxide separate and may be tested 
on charcoal, where it fuses to a globule, which, in 
the oxidizing flame, gives olf sulphur and coats the 
coal with white oxide of tin. 

This ore or mineral, for it does not as yet deserve 
the name of tin ore, is of little use, but the pros¬ 
pector does well to make himself acquainted with it, 
as it is frequently associated with the binoxide or 
cassiterite, or black oxide, as the true ore is fre¬ 
quently called. 

This last form is that in which the tin ores of 
South Dakota are invariably found. The gangue 
matter varies as do the minerals associated, but the 
general geologic conditions are largely the same 
throughout many miles of country. Although the 
Hearney Peak Mines are the chief centres of the tin 
developments, the whole country around for many 
miles seems to hold out promise of the same general 
metallic deposits, and particularly of the black 
oxide. 

Tinstone stands nearly by itself in its mode of 
occurrence and formation, as a type of a strongly 
marked class of deposits. It is always associated 
with granitic rocks, quartz-porphyries, or gneiss, all 
of which are of analagous composition, being rich in 
silica, which crystallizes as quartz, and being called 
in consequence “ acidic ” rocks. Tin lodes are 
nearly all of great antiquity and occur only in 
those of the above-named rocks which are char¬ 
acterized by the presence of white mica. It is only 
in two or three places in the world, notably Tus- 


LEAD AND TIN. 


149 


cany and Elba, that granites of this type have been 
erupted during recent times, and they contain tin in 
small quantity as well as some of the minerals 
usually associated with it, such as tourmaline, lithia, 
mica, and emerald. 

Although this fact is of no immediate practical 
value, it is important, because it shows that there 
really are laws which govern the distribution of 
minerals, although these are sometimes very ob¬ 
scure ; but by constant observation it is certain that, 
amongst discoveries of merely scientific interest, 
laws capable of practical application will occasion¬ 
ally be found. 

Tinstone is always associated with quartz and 
rarely occurs in green rocks, unless their color be 
due to chlorite; nor in dark-colored rocks, except 
where stained red by the decomposition of ferru¬ 
ginous minerals ; neither is it found in limestone. 

Those granites which are characterized by abund¬ 
ance of white mica have, with good reason, been 
termed “tin granites,” and a coarse-grained rock 
composed of granular quartz mixed with white mica 
and called “ greisen ” occurs in all the tin fields of 
the world. 

The minerals most commonly associated with tin, 
namely topaz, mica, tourmaline, fluorspar, apatite 
and other rarer minerals containing fluorine, seem 
to show that it was originally contained in the 
granite as fluoride of tin, and that the associated 
minerals have been formed at its expense. It is an 
established fact in the genesis of minerals that fluor- 


150 prospector's field-book and guide. 


ine is always accompanied by silicon and boron. 
It is therefore natural to find silicates containing 
boric acid, such as tourmaline and axinite, in asso¬ 
ciation with tin. Other minerals which frequently 
accompany this metal are wolfram, molybdenite, 
mispickel, garnet, beryl, etc. 

It is evident that a most important aid to the 
prospector is a study of the characteristics of the 
tin-stone ores, and he may find it beneficial to be¬ 
come acquainted with the special minerals above 
mentioned as associated with the ores. 

These minerals include, in some mines, wolframite , 
which gives trouble in the Cornwall and other tin 
mines, and the following description and tests may 
aid in detecting it: 

Wolframite is in hardness 5-5.5, specific gravity 
7.1-7.55, therefore, in these features it resembles the 
tin oxide; though somewhat softer, yet the specific 
gravity is practically the same, although really 
heavier. So in color it frequently closely resembles 
tin oxide. But in the streak (or scratch powder), 
wolframite is a dark reddish-brown to black, while 
the tin oxide gives a white or grayish-brown pow¬ 
der : wolframite is opaque, while the tin oxide is 
translucent and sometimes transparent on the edges; 
when mixed with iron or manganese rarely , it looks 
almost opaque. Composition of wolframite: tung¬ 
stic acid about 75, the remainder protoxide of iron 
and manganese protoxide, more of the latter than of 
the former. 

Wolframite is used in the preparation of some 


LEAD AND TIN. 


151 


colors and enamels, and enters into the composition 
of some special kinds of steel. Tungstate of soda, 
which is used as a mordant and for fire-proofing 
fabrics, is also prepared from it. 

One other mineral present in the Hearney Mines 
is a brown garnet, and inasmuch as the small stream 
tin has to the inexperienced the same general form 
and color, the two distinct substances are allowed 
to remain together even in sampling. But while 
the garnets are of about the same hardness as the 
tin oxide, they are much lighter, and may be easily 
separated by “ panning,” the moving water in the 
pan throwing the garnets away from the edge of the 
water, and the heavier grains of tin oxide remaining 
behind. Where the garnet is somewhat massive it 
may, with a little observation, be readily distin¬ 
guished and separated. 


CHAPTER IX. 


ZINC-IRON. 

Zinc. The chief ores of zinc are : 

Zinc Carbonate. Mineralogical name Smithson- 
ite, composition, zinc 51.44, oxygen 13.10, carbonic 
acid 35.46. But the composition in the mines 
varies because of the presence of protoxide of iron, 
manganese and magnesia. Color, when pure, nearly 
white, through various shades of yellow and gray 
to brown. Hardness 5, specific gravity 4-4.4. 
Streak, uncolored or white. Lustre, vitreous, pearly, 
subtransparent to translucent. Found in veins, 
but more usually in irregular deposits in limestone 
strata. 

It is easily detected by the blow-pipe, as it gives a 
green color when heated after being moistened with 
half a drop of nitrate of cobalt solution. On char¬ 
coal, with soda, it coats the coal with a white film, 
which is yellow when hot and white on cooling, but 
if moistened with the cobalt solution and heated in 
the 0 F it turns green. With muriatic acid it effer¬ 
vesces and dissolves. In mass it is translucent and 
brittle. 

Zinc Silicate. Mineralogical name, calamine; 
composition, zinc oxide 67.5, silica 25, water 7.5. 

(152) 


ZINC-IRON. 


153 


Hardness 4.5-5, the latter when crystallized (Dana), 
gravity 3.16-3.9. Color and streak the same as in 
Smithsonite. Acts before the blow-pipe as does 
Smithsonite, but does not effervesce with acids, and 
gelatinizes ; it is soluble in a strong solution of pot¬ 
ash. In physical characters zinc silicate somewhat 
resembles zinc carbonate. An anhydrous variety of 
this ore is willermite which is found in New Jersey 
(Mine Hill and Sterling Hill). Zinc silicate is usu¬ 
ally found in veins or in beds or in irregular pock¬ 
ets in stratified calcareous rocks, in association with 
zinc blende, zinc carbonate, iron, lead ores, etc. 

Red oxide of zinc, mineralogical name is zincite 
(pron. zinkite), and its composition is zinc 80, oxygen 
20, varied by the presence of 3 to 12 parts of per¬ 
oxide of manganese, which gives the red color, for 
zinc oxide, pure, is white. This ore is peculiar to 
one region in New Jersey, Franklin, Sussex Co. 
Hardness 4-4.5, specific gravity 5.4-5.7 ; color, red 
and yellowish-red, streak the same; translucent, 
brittle. 

Sulphide of zinc, mineralogical name sphalerite 
or blende , miners’ name black-jack. Composition, 
zinc 66.8, sulphur 33.2, but varied in the mines by 
iron, and sometimes cadmium. Color varies from 
yellow to brown and almost black, having a waxy 
look. Hardness 3.5 to 4, specific gravity 3.9 to 4.2 ; 
brittle, translucent. Zinc blende is the most abun¬ 
dant zinc ore. It occurs in rocks of all ages, in 
veins, in contact deposits or in irregular pockets 
in limestone, etc., and is frequently associated with 


154 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


the ores of lead, as well as those of copper, iron, 
silver, gold and tin ; also, frequently associated with 
quartz, barite, fluorite, calcite, etc. It is easily 
recognized if treated with hot hydrochloric acid, as 
it gives a smell of rotten eggs (sulphuretted hydro¬ 
gen), and the same results can be obtained without 
heating if a. small quantity of pure iron filings is 
added to the acid. With soda on charcoal before 
the blowpipe, zinc blende gives a sulphuret which, 
with water on a silver coin, tarnishes or blackens it. 

The geology of zinc and of lead are so nearly 
alike that what has been said of the latter will 
apply to the former (Fig. 51.) 


Fig. 51. 



Section of strata near Sparta, New Jersey, zinc mines. 

a, Slaty rock with feldspathic dykes, b , b, Limestone, c, Franklinite iron 
ore with zinc 20 to 30 ft. wide, d, Red oxide of zinc 3 to 9 ft. wide, e, e, 
Crystalline limestone. /, Feldspathic rock. 

In New Jersey a section of strata near Sparta 
shows slaty rock with feldspathic dykes, then lime¬ 
stone adjoining the Franklinite iron ore with zinc 
20 to 30 feet wide, then the red oxide of zinc 3 to 9 
feet wide, then crystalline limestone, and next feld¬ 
spathic rock (Fig. 51). 








ZINC-IRON. 


155 


Enormous and extensive deposits of the sulphide 
are reported as occurring in Colorado, at George¬ 
town and Mount Lincoln, and in Montana, near 
Jefferson City. 

The blow-pipe shows the same tests for zinc as 
have previously been mentioned. The fumes of 
sulphurous acid may be easily noticed when the 
mineral is placed in an open tube of glass (a test 
tube with a small hole in the bottom will be suffi¬ 
cient), and strongly heated. 

Iron. Native iron is not found in nature, but 
occurs with a small percentage of nickel in meteor¬ 
ites. It resembles ordinary iron, is malleable and 
attracted by a magnet. Specific gravity 7.0 to 7.8. 

The chief ores of iron are magnetite, hematite 
(red and brown), and black band. 

Magnetite is composed of iron 72.4 and oxygen 
27.6. This ore is always easily attracted by the 
magnet, and sometimes is found capable of attract¬ 
ing iron, and then is called “polaric ” or “ load¬ 
stone.” 

Hardness 5.5 to 6.5, specific gravity 5 to 5.1. 
Color, nearly black ; streak black. In powder or 
small grains it is always attractable by a magnet¬ 
ized knife-blade. 

Nitric acid does not act upon it, but muriatic acid 
dissolves it when in very fine powder, and under 
long-continued heat. 

Iron exists in magnetite as protoxide and per¬ 
oxide or FeO and Fe 2 0 3 , and upon this difference 
of oxides is based the action of important tests. 


156 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

Franklinite is an ere somewhat resembling 
magnetite in color, hardness, and specific gravity, 
but it contains manganese and zinc, and as an ore, 
is peculiar to Sussex Co., New Jersey. Its streak is 
dark brown, and its action on the magnet is feebler 
than in the case of magnetite. The iron is said to 
be of the composition of peroxide, or Fe 2 0 3 , but it 
is probably in part protoxide, and this is the cause 
of its feeble effect on the magnet. 

It is easily affected under the blowpipe. Alone, 
it is infusible, but with borax in the 0 F it colors 
the borax bead with the amethystine color of man¬ 
ganese, and in the R F it shows the bottle-green of 
iron. On charcoal with soda it gives the bluish- 
green manganate, and also the coating of zinc, 
especially if the soda is mixed with borax. It is 
soluble in fine powder in muriatic acid. 

Specular ore is the peroxide of iron without the 
protoxide. This oxide is also called the sesqui- 
oxide, or one and a half oxides, since iron combines 
with oxygen in the proportion of one to one and a 
half parts, or Fe 0 , and this is the highest propor¬ 
tion of oxygen the iron will combine with, and 
hence it is the peroxide, the peroxide and sesqui- 
oxide being the same in this case. 

Specular ore is called red hematite from its 
color, which in some masses is so intensely red as to 
appear nearly black, but it may always be distin¬ 
guished from magnetite by its red streak, and the 
blacker the ore the more decided is the red of its 
powder or streak. It is never magnetic. We have 


ZINC-IRON. 


157 


always found that in cases where specular ore 
showed any magnetic attraction, it was due to the 
fact that the ore contained some protoxide of iron. 


Fig. 52. 



Geologic horizons around the iron ores of Lake Superior. 

a, Gneiss, b, Hornblende slates, c, The same with numerous thin beds of 
iron ore which frequently unite, d, Potsdam sandstone. 

Hardness 5.5, specific gravity 4.5 to 5.3, composi¬ 
tion, 70 per cent, iron, 30 per cent, oxygen. Color, 
reddish to almost black. 

Brown Iron Ore or Brown Hematite or 
Limonite. This is the same composition as red 
hematite, except that it has less iron and contains 
water in chemical combination, generally about 14 
per cent. Color always brown. When heated red- 
hot it loses its water and turns to a bright-red, unless 
largely mixed with alumina and silex, when the 
red color is shaded. It is not magnetic unless 






158 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


heated with soda under the blow-pipe, w T hen it be¬ 
comes metallic, as all iron ores do. 

The amount of metallic iron in a pure specimen 
is 59 per cent., sometimes decreased by presence of 
alumina, silica, magnesia, and other impurities, so 
that its average in many good mines is only about 
35 to 36 per cent. iron. 

Spathic Iron Ore or Siderite is an iron car¬ 
bonate, composed of iron protoxide 62 per cent, and 
carbonic acid, or 48 per cent, pure iron, but fre¬ 
quently composed of manganese. Hardness 3.5 to 
4.5, gravity 3.7-3.9, streak white. Color gray or 
cream color, unless weathered, when it is brownish. 

When in powder it effervesces with muriatic acid, 
especially when hot. Translucent on edges, and 
thin plates or splinters. 

With the blow-pipe in a closed tube (test tube) it 
decrepitates, becomes blackened, and gives off car¬ 
bonic acid. Before the blow-pipe alone, held by 
forceps, it blackens and fuses. In the test-tube with 
muriatic acid it may be tested for carbonic acid, by 
letting a lighted thread down into the tube, when 
the flame is instantly extinguished. The solution 
m the tube may be tested for iron b}^ dropping a 
drop of solution of ferricyanide of potassium into the 
muriatic acid solution, when it becomes instantly a 
deep blue. This is a test of protoxide of iron, spathic 
ore being iron in the condition of protoxide only. 

Black band ore is an argillaceous spathic ore of 
various dark colors, being largely combined with 
carbonaceous material. It is found extensively in 


ZINC-IRON. 


159 


Great Britain, near the summit of the coal measures. 
In our country the black band ores are also associ¬ 
ated with the coal measures, both in the anthracite 
and bituminous regions. 

Chromic Iron or Chromite, generally with 49.90 
to 60.04 per cent, of chromic oxide, 18.42 to 35.68 
per cent, of ferrous oxide, 10 to 12 per cent, alumina, 
5.36 to 15 per cent, magnesia, and 4 to 6 per cent, 
silica, occurs usually massive, mixed with other iron 
ores or in serpentine. It is an iron-black to brown¬ 
ish-black color and a faintly metallic lustre. Streak 
or powder, dark-brown. Fracture, irregular; specific 
gravity, 4.4 to 4.6; hardness 5.5, is not scratched by 
a knife. With borax bead it gives the character¬ 
istic indications of chromium. It is largely used in 
the preparation of chromium colors. 

The following iron ores are not used for the mak¬ 
ing of iron and steel, but may nevertheless prove of 
value. 

Iron Pyrites , usually in cubes and allied forms, 
sides often marked by fine parallel lines. Occurs 
also massive and contains 46.7 per cent, of iron and 
53.3 per cent, of sulphur. Color, brass yellow; 
lustre, metallic; streak, brownish-black; fracture 
irregular; specific gravity 4.8 to 5.1 ; hardness 6 to 
6.5; cannot be scratched with a knife, but is 
scratched by quartz, and scratches glass with great 
facility. Before the blow-pipe it burns with a blue 
flame, giving off an odor of sulphur, and ultimately 
fuses into a black magnetic globule. It is found in 
great abundance, and is used as a source of sulphur. 


160 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

It is easily distinguished from copper pyrites by its 
hardness, the latter being readily cut with a knife. 
From gold it is distinguished by its hardness and 
in not being malleable, and in giving off sulphurous 
odors in the blow-pipe flame. 

Arsenical Pyrites or Mispickel contains 34.4 per 
cent, of iron, 19.6 per cent, of arsenic, and 46.0 per 
cent, of sulphur. It occurs in flattened prisms and 
also massive. Color, white; lustre, metallic ; streak, 
gray ; fracture, uneven ; specific gravity 6.0 to 6.3 ; 
hardness 5.5 ; cannot be scrarched with a knife, but 
is scratched by quartz. Heated before the blow¬ 
pipe it gives off white arsenical fumes of a garlic 
odor, and finally fuses into a black globule. It is 
abundant in mining districts, and sometimes is 
auriferous. With the improved processes now in 
use, it is possible to extract the gold profitably, 
and hence mispickel ores should be examined for 
gold. 

The geology of the iron ores varies and may be 
divided into that of the magnetites, which are 
always derived from the granites, gneiss, schist 
rocks, clay slates, and rarely, the metamorphic lime¬ 
stones. 

The red hematites seem to be only an alteration 
derived from the magnetites, and belong to the same 
more ancient rocks as the latter. 

The brown hematites (limonites) are derived from 
both the former and are generally sedimentary. 

Very frequently in extensive magnetic regions, 
where the country back is mountainous, the brown 


ZINC-IRON. 


161 


ore has been formed in basins and knees and inter¬ 
locked portions of the lower country, where ages of 
rains, storms and freshets have gradually trans¬ 
ported and altered the magnetic ores of the upper 
regions and brought down these iron oxides to the 
lands, where they have been arrested and settled 
down in beds of brown hematite. This seems to 
have been the history of all the hematitic limonite 
beds and deposits; they are on the lower levels 
when they were formed, although in after ages 
they may have been uplifted. 

Iron ores are, therefore, to be found in three gen¬ 
eral geologic regions: (1) in the earliest rocks; (2) 


Fig. 53. 



a, Quartzite or siliceous rock, b, Red hematite iron ore alternating with 
siliceous matter, c, Siliceous rocks. 


I 

in the carboniferous, and (3) in the more recent or 
sedimentary rocks, and in accordance with their 
composition as magnetites and specular ores, as 

11 



162 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

carbonaceous or black band and spathic ores, or as 
brown ores of the limonite order. 

One of the most peculiar geologic conditions is 
found in the Pilot Knob Mountain, wherein the 
iron strata have been thrown up as in Fig. 53. 


THE USE OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE IN PROSPECTING 
FOR IRON. 

In ordinary cases, where the surface is covered 
with loose earth, it is common to search for mag¬ 
netic iron ore with a magnetic needle or a miner’s 
compass, and for preliminary examinations it is 
now T the chief reliance. In using this instrument 
considerable practice is required ; but this joined to 
good judgment gives indications of the presence of 
ore which are almost infallible. There has been 
very great improvement, within a few years past, in 
the methods of searching for magnetic ore as well 
as in the instruments to be used for that purpose, 
and the work is now well done by many persons. 

In the Annual Report of the State Geologist of 
New Jersey for 1879, W. H. Scranton, M. E., makes 
a report, accompanied by a map, upon a magnetic 
survey made at Oxford, Warren Co., New Jersey, to 
determine the location of a vein, and the proper 
places to sink shafts. Mr. Scranton finds Gurley’s 
Norwegian compass the best, though the slowest to 
work with. He sums up the indications from the 
magnetic needle in searching for ore, as it usually 
occurs in New Jersey, as follows : 


ZINC-IRON. 


163 


“ An attraction which is confined to a very small 
spot and is lost in passing a few feet from it, is most 
likely to be caused by a boulder of ore or particles 
of magnetite in the rock. 

“ An attraction which continues on steadily in the 
direction of the strike of the rock for a distance of 
many feet or rods, indicates a vein of ore; and if it 
is positive and strongest towards the southwest, it is 
reasonable to conclude that the vein begins with the 
attraction there. If the attraction diminishes in 
going northeast, and finally dies out without becom¬ 
ing negative, it indicates that the vein has con¬ 
tinued on without break or ending until too far oft 
to move the compass needle. If, on passing towards 
the northeast, along the line of attraction, the south 
pole is drawn down, it indicates the end of the vein 
or an offset. If, on continuing further still in the 
same direction, positive attraction is found, it shows 
that the vein is not ended ; but if no attraction is 
shown, there is no indication as to the further con¬ 
tinuance of the ore. 

“ In crossing veins of ore from southeast to north¬ 
west, w T hen the dip of the rock and ore is as usual to 
the southeast, positive attraction is first observed to 
come on gradually, as the ore is nearer and nearer 
to the surface, and the northwest edge of the vein is 
indicated by the needle suddenly showing negative 
attraction just at the point of passing off* it. This 
change of attraction will be less marked as the 
depth of the vein is greater, or as the strike is nearer 
north and south. The steadiness and continuance 


164 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

of the attraction is a much better indication of ore 
than the strength or amount of attraction is. The 
ore may vary in its susceptibility to the magnetic 
influence from impurities in its substance; it does 
vary according to the position in which it lies— 
that is, according to its dip and strike; and it also 
varies very much according to its distance beneath 
the surface. 

“ Method of Using the Compass in Searching for Ore. 
—It is sufficient to say that the first examinations 
are made by passing over the ground with the com¬ 
pass in a northwest and southeast direction, at in¬ 
tervals of a few rods, until indications of ore are 
found. Then the ground should be examined more 
carefully by crossing the line of attraction at inter¬ 
vals of a few feet, and making the points upon 
which observations have been made, and recording 
the amount of attraction. Observations with the 
ordinary compass should he made and the varia¬ 
tion of the horizontal needle be noted. In this way 
material may soon be accumulated for staking out 
the line of attraction, or for constructing a map for 
study and reference. 

“ After sufficient exploration with the magnetic 
needle, it still remains to prove the value of the 
vein by uncovering the ore, examining its quality, 
measuring the size of the vein, aud estimating the 
cost of mining and marketing it. Uncovering 
should first be done in trenches dug across the 
line of attraction, and carried quite down to 
the rock. When the ore is in this way proved 


ZINC—IRON. 


165 


to be of value, regular mining operations may 
begin. 

“In places where there are offsets in the ore, or 
where it has been subject to bends, folds, or other 
irregularities, so that the miner is at fault in what 
direction to proceed, explorations maybe made with 
the diamond drill.” 


CHAPTER X. 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT AND CADMIUM. 

Mercury’ or Quicksilver. Native Mereury in a 
pure state is rarely found, but it occurs disseminated 
in liquid globules in cavities in cinnabar-bearing 
rocks, especially at or near the surface. It is bright, 
white, and of specific gravity 13.6 at 32° F. How¬ 
ever, the principal sources of quicksilver are the 
following: 

Cinnabar, or sulphide of mercury, found massive, 
of a granular texture, reddish color, and scarlet-red 
streak. Composition : mercury 86.2, sulphur 13.8, 
when pure. It is the only regular and most valu¬ 
able ore of mercury. 

Hardness 2 to 2.5, specific gravity 8.99, sectile. 
Easily scratched with a knife, affording a deep red 
streak. Before the blow-pipe on charcoal it is vola¬ 
tile if pure, gives sulphurous flames if heated in an 
an open tube, and mercury condenses on the sides 
of the tube, so that it may easily be seen with a 
lens or even the naked eye. 

Native amalgam. This is a mixture of silver 
and mercury, and when pure, contains from 64 to 
72 percent, mercury. Color, silver-white ; hardness 
3-3.5, specific gravity 10.5-14. On charcoal before 
(166) 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 167 

the blow-pipe, the quicksilver evaporates and the 
silver remains. 

The quicksilver deposits at Almaden, in Spain, 
have a far remote history, for in the time of Pliny 
10,000 lbs. were sent annually to Rome from these 
mines. They occur in upper Silurian slates some¬ 
times interstratified with beds of limestone ; but the 
ordinary slates themselves, which are much con¬ 
torted, rarely contain cinnabar, The enclosing 
rock usually consists of black carbonaceous slates 
and quartzites alternating with schists and fine 
grained sandstones. 

At Idria, Austria, cinnabar is found in impreg¬ 
nated beds and stockworks in bituminous shales, 
dolomitic sandstones and limestone breccias of Tri- 
assic age, dipping 30° to 40°, and covered by 
carboniferous sandstones and shales in a reversed 
position. This deposit has been worked for nearly 
400 years and is said to become richer as the depth 
increases. 

The quicksilver-bearing belt of California extends 
along the coast range for a distance of about 200 
miles. According to a report by M. G.. Rolland, 
these deposits are generally impregnations in the 
cretaceous and tertiary formations. They seem to 
be richer when the beds are more schistose and 
transmuted. They are more or less closely in rela¬ 
tion with serpentines, which are themselves some¬ 
times impregnated with oxide of iron, sometimes in 
quartzose schists, in sandstones, more rarely in 
limestone rocks, limestone breccias, etc. Native 


168 prospector’s EIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE; 


mercury is found in some magnesian rocks near the 
surface. There are no defined fissures nor veins 
proper. The cinnabar with quartz, pyrites, and 
bituminous substances is sometimes disseminated in 
the rock in fine particles and spots, sometimes forms 
certain kinds of stockworks or reticulated veins and 
nests. The parts thus impregnated congregate and 
form rich zones, the size of which occasionally 
reaches 80 fathoms, and the percentage 35 per cent., 
and flat-like veins or lenticular deposits, the strike 
and dip of which agree with those of the schists of 
the country generally. These rich zones without de¬ 
fined limits gradually merge into poor stuff contain¬ 
ing half a per cent., or mere traces, and are of no 
value. 

Sulphur Bank, one of the principal mines, was 
originally worked as a sulphur deposit. Sulphur 
in workable quantities is known to exist in some 
volcanic countries, and volcanic rocks are abundant 
at the California cinnabar mines. 

Bismuth. This metal occurs native, of a red¬ 
dish silver-white color. Brittle when cold ; hard¬ 
ness 2-2.5, specific gravity 9.7. Sectile when heated. 
It carries, sometimes, traces of arsenic, sulphur, tel¬ 
lurium and iron. On charcoal before the blow-pipe, 
it fuses and entirely volatilizes, leaving a coating 
which is orange-yellow while hot and lemon-yellow 
on cooling (this is the trioxide of bismuth.) It dis¬ 
solves in nitric acid, but subsequent dilution causes 
a white precipitate. 

Very little bismuth has been found in our coun- 


Mercury, bismuth, hickel, cobalt, etc. 169 

try. The metal occurs on the Continent of Europe, 
associated with silver and cobalt, also with copper 
ores. Although there is but little call for it in the 
arts, a deposit or lode of bismuth would be valuable. 

Where it has been found in the United States it 
has been associated with wolfram (tungstate of iron 
and manganese), also with tungstate of lime, with 
galena and zinc blende in quartz. 

Its geology is the same as that of copper; it 
occurs in veins, in gneiss, and other crystalline rocks. 

Nickel. It does not occur native, except in 
meteorites. 

Under the blow-pipe, nickel requires care and 
some practice. On charcoal, with soda in the inner 
flame, it gives a gray metallic powder, attractable 
by the magnet. In the borax bead in the outer 
flame it gives a hyacinth-red to violet-brown while 
hot, a yellowish or yellow-red when cold. In the 
reducing or inner flame, a gray appearance is given. 
These appearances are modified by the impurities 
of the mineral and the amount of nickel in the 
mineral. The wet process is the only method of 
determining the true value of the nickel-bearing 
mineral. 

Its chief ores are : 

Smaltite, which is a combination of cobalt, iron 
and nickel, and arsenic in varying proportions. 

Before the blow-pipe in the closed tube, it gives 
off arsenic as a metallic sublimate on the sides of 
the glass. In the open tube it gives off white sub¬ 
limate of arsenious acid. 


170 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


On charcoal it gives an arsenical odor and fuses 
to a globule, which, under successive heatings with 
borax, gives the reactions for iron, cobalt, and 
nickel (page 169). 

Hardness of the ore, 5.5-6, specific gravity 6.4- 
7.2, metallic lustre; color, tin-white, sometimes a 
little tarnished ; streak, grayish-black ; brittle. 

Nickel arsenide, “ copper nickel mineralogical 
name, nicolite. Composition : nickel 44.1 ; arsenic 
55.9. It looks somewhat like pale copper, but con¬ 
tains no copper. Hardness 5—5.5, specific gravit} r , 
6.67-7.33 ; streak, pale brownish to black ; brittle. 
It frequently contains a little iron, and sometimes a 
trace of antimony, lead and cobalt. 

If carefully treated under the blow-pipe with 
borax, it will show the iron if present, in the bead, 
and the cobalt and nickel by successive oxidations 
(page 169). But the nickel requires especial treat¬ 
ment, the detection of which we will speak of in 
this chapter. 

There is another mineral, not properly an ore, 
called : 

Emerald-nickel, a carbonate of nickel, contain¬ 
ing 28.6 water when pure. It forms incrustations 
on other minerals, like another called millerite. 

Millerite, a sulphide of nickel forming tufts of 
very fine acicular, brassy-looking crystals, in cavi¬ 
ties of the red hematite of Sterling Iron Mines in 
Northern New York, and velvety incrustations on 
ores in Lancaster Co., Penna., where nickel is found 
and worked. In the former place no nickel abounds, 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 171 

but in the latter it has been found in paying quan¬ 
tities. But the sulphide forms at the latter place 
vary very much, as examined under the microscope, 
from the acicular crystals found in the ores at Ster¬ 
ling, N. Y., and yet they are the same chemical 
combination. The ore upon which the tufts of vel¬ 
vety covering are found at the Gap Mine, Lancaster 
Co., Penn., is pyrrhotite or sulphide of iron, holding 
4 to 5.9 per cent, nickel in composition ; that of 
Sterling, N. Y., is the red hematite. 

The sources of nickel discovered in Sudbury, 
Canada, north of Georgian Bay, yield nickel in 
pyrrhotite (sulphide of iron), and apparently also in 
chalcopyrite , whose typical composition is copper 
34.6, iron 30.5, sulphur 34.9. It is a mineral of 
brass-yellow appearance, and one which furnishes 
the copper of commerce at the Cornwall Mines 
(Eng.) and at the copper beds in Fahlun, Sweden. 
In the latter place it is imbedded, as it appears to 
be in the region of the Sudbury Mines, only that 
the Sudbury ore is imbedded in pyrrhotite and the 
Swedish in gneiss. 

The chalcopyrite does not mix intimately with 
the nickel ore so as to form a homogeneous mass, 
but occurs by itself in pockets or threads, etc., but 
inclosed with massive pyrrhotite, which, while it 
may have more than 30 per cent, of nickel present, 
does not show any sign of the changed composition.* 

This per cent, is far above the average of nickel 

*Dr. E. B. Peters, Manager of the Canada Copper Com¬ 
pany. 


172 prospector’s field-book and guide* 

in the pyrrhotite, which seldom carries less than 2J 
per cent, or more than 9 per cent, of nickel. 

The following new ores of nickel are reported by 
Dr. Emmons from Sudbury, Canada: 

Foleyrite, of a bronze-yellow color, grayish-black 
streak, and metallic lustre. It occurs massive and 
contains 32.87 per cent, of nickel. Its specific 
gravity is 4.73, hardness 3.5. 

Whartonite contains 6.10 per cent, of nickel. It 
has a pale bronze-yellow^ color, black streak and 
metallic lustre. Specific gravity about 3.73 ; hard¬ 
ness about 4. 

Jack’s Tin or Blueite contains 3.5 per cent, of 
nickel. It is of an olive-gray to bronze color, me¬ 
tallic lustre and black streak. Specific gravity 4.2 ; 
hardness 3 to 3.5. 

analysis of ores for nickel and cobalt. 

As this analysis requires care, we give the follow¬ 
ing method in full: 

1. Reduce finety 50 grains of the ore. Put it in 
a dry beaker-glass and pour a mixture of one part 
sulphuric acid with three parts nitric acid, both 
pure and concentrated, or 40 to 50 c.c. to 2 grams 
of ore. 

2. Heat the covered beaker on a sand-bath to 
near 212° Fall, for two hours. Then partly un¬ 
cover, and evaporate the nitric acid entirely. 

3. Cool and add 100 or more c.c. of water and 
let it stand for four hours; the insoluble residue is 
lead sulphate, silex, etc. 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 173 

4. Filter off the soluble part and place the moist 
lead sulphate in a beaker and dissolve it by first 
pouring in ammonia (20-25 c.e.), and next acetic 
acid till it is decidedly acid. The sulphate now 
dissolves if kept warm for some twenty minutes. 
Filter and wash, and if any residue remains (silex, 
etc.), reserve for future examination. 

5. The lead is now separate, but if the amount 
is sought, pass a current of hydrogen sulphide 
through the solution till the lead is entirely pre¬ 
cipitated. Filter, dry, place the residue in a porce¬ 
lain crucible and heat to a low-red heat, passing a 
current of dry hydrogen into the crucible while 
heating to prevent any oxidizing of the sulphide. 
When the crucible and contents remain the same 
in weight, the last weight of the lead sulphide is the 
correct amount. Of this weight, 86.61 parts in 100 
are lead, 13.39 are sulphur. 

If the ore has no lead in it, the above work is 
omitted entirely. The likelihood of lead may be 
tested qualitatively from a small quantity dissolved, 
precipitated by hydrogen sulphide, and the precipi¬ 
tate determined by the blow-pipe on charcoal giving 
the lead coating, and with soda, the metallic globule. 

6. To separate the copper. The filtrate re¬ 
maining after the insoluble lead sulphate was 
filtered off, as in No. 4, now contains whatever the 
mineral is composed of, copper, iron, nickel, cobalt, 
etc. Dilute the filtrate to about 500 c.c., heat to 
nearly boiling, and pass hydrogen sulphide through 
it, and thus precipitate all the copper after adding 


174 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


1 or 2 c.c. of hydrochloric acid. Filter, wash, dry, 
and ignite the precipitate in an atmosphere of 
hydrogen. The result will he pure Cu 2 S, from 
which the copper may be ascertained as 79.85 parts 
of the whole weight of Cu 2 S. 

7. Concentrate by evaporization the filtrate of 
No. 6 remaining after the copper was separated, add 
1 or 2 c.c. of nitric acid, and boil the filtrate two or 
three minutes, let it become nearly cold, add an 
excess of ammonia, and let it stand in a warm place 
half an hour. 

8. Filter the precipitate into a porcelain dish and 
redissolve the iron oxide (hydroxide) with hydro¬ 
chloric acid poured slowly into the filter, complete 
washing of the filter with hot water, reduce the free 
acid in the filtrate with ammonia, then very nearly 
neutralize it carefully with sodium (metallic) or 
ammonium carbonate; the solution must remain 
clear, though dark red, if much iron is present. 
Now add a strong neutral solution of ammonium or 
sodium acetate (not in large excess), and then boil 
a short time. When rightly performed the iron 
oxide precipitate will settle rapidly, and the super¬ 
natant liquor will be clear. Wash rapidly with 
boiling water, and, at first, separate the clear part 
by decantation, and then filter. If great exactitude 
is required, redissolve in hydrochloric acid, and once 
more precipitate with the acetate just as before. Add 
this filtrate to the ammoniacal filtrate mentioned 
at the beginning of No. 7 paragraph. 

The iron is now separated as basic ferric acetate, 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 175 

and it is almost, if not entirely, separated from all 
nickel and cobalt which are yet in solution. 

9. The first filtrate, No. 7, contains all the nickel 
and cobalt. It must now be concentrated to about 
250 c.c. If it is slightly acid, proceed ; if not, then 
add muriatic acid until it is very slightly acid. 
Now heat the filtrate in a beaker to gentle boiling, 
and pass hydrogen sulphide through the liquid. A 
black precipitate follows, if nickel sulphide with 
cobalt sulphide, they are together. 

10. Filter, wash, and dry ; incinerate the filter- 
paper with the precipitate if very small in quantity, 
otherwise separately ; heat in porcelain crucible. 
Dissolve in aqua regia (nitro-muriatic acid), and 
treat it till only yellow sulphur remains, evaporate 
and expose the residue to a heat of 180° Fall, to 
make any silica insoluble. Moisten with a few 
drops of muriatic acid, add 20 c.c. of water to dis¬ 
solve the salts, add some solution of hydrogen sul¬ 
phide to separate any copper or lead which may 
have escaped separation, filter into a porcelain dish 
and concentrate all to about 100 c.c. 

11. Boil gently, and while boiling add pure so¬ 
dium carbonate solution until the liquid is slightly 
alkaline. Continue boiling a few minutes, add a 
few grains of pure soda solution (sodium hydroxide). 
This is best prepared freshly by dropping a small 
ball of metallic sodium into a half ounce of water 
in a platinum dish or crucible, or, not so well, in a 
porcelain dish. Heat to a boiling again a few min¬ 
utes till all the nickel and cobalt are precipitated, 


176 prospector's field-book and guide. 


wash the precipitate with boiling hot water by de¬ 
cantation, and finally on the filter, until a drop on 
polished platinum shows no residue. After drying 
the precipitate remove it to a piece of glazed paper; 
cover with a bell-glass. Then incinerate the filter 
till the carbon has entirely disappeared, add it to 
the precipitate already obtained, place all in a cru¬ 
cible, cover it and expose to heat to redness, and, 
finally, if desired, reduce the oxides to the metallic 
condition by ignition under a stream of hydrogen. 

12. As this process of reduction to metal is some¬ 
times very useful, we give a simple plan of appa¬ 
ratus for this purpose. Get a half-pint, wide- 
mouthed pickle bottle and introduce two glass tubes 
of a quarter inch diameter into a cork fitting the 
mouth, after having nicely adjusted the cork to the 
mouth of the bottle. The tubes may be easily bent 
and blown as in A B, Fig. 54 below, over the flame 
of an alcohol lamp, before permanently fastening 
them in place. To blow a funnel end, heat the end 
of the tube to softness and mash it together, her¬ 
metically seal, then reheat rapidly, roll it between 
finger and thumb while gently blowing at the other 
end until swollen large enough, then, with pincers, 
break it or chip it off; if enlarged twice or three 
times the diameter, it is large enough for the pur¬ 
pose. The tubes intended to be bent should be 
rapidly rotated in the enlarged flame until red-hot, 
and then bent to the right angle and gradualty 
cooled. 

It is well to make another of these bottles for dry- 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 177 

ing the hydrogen, as in B. Introduce the tube as 
shown in the figure, wherein B represents the drying 
bottle in which is placed a quantity of fragments 
of chloride of calcium of the size of peas or even 
smaller. In putting the cork with tubes into this 
bottle, the bottle should be on its side and rolled 
while introducing the longer tube into the calcium 
chloride, so that the fragments may not obstruct 
the tube as it is pushed down. The exit tube may 
be bent or straight, and properly sized india-rubber 
tubing may be fitted over the ends so as to make 
connections. A common clay stem smoking pipe 
arranged as in the figure, with the bowl inverted 
into the crucible which is placed on a wire support 
on a retort stand, c, is quite sufficient. The usual 
alcohol blast lamp, d, is necessary for this operation. 


Fig. 54. 



To put the apparatus to work it is only necessary to 
introduce some three or four ounces of broken-up 
pieces of zinc into A, together with water sufficient 

12 




























178 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

to half fill the bottle, cork up with the tubes ar¬ 
ranged as above, and pour into the funnel-shaped 
tube common oil of vitriol gradually, until the gas 
begins to come over, then stop as the water becomes 
heated, and the gas will increase without addition. 
You may now prepare your crucible, and, when in 
place, and the tubes all arranged, the gas may be 
made to come over more rapidly by adding a little 
more oil of vitriol drop by drop. 

13. The crucible should be weighed after cooling 
and replaced, the flame of the blast lamp relighted, 
and red heat renewed under the hydrogen apparatus 
until the crucible, when again weighed, shows no 
alteration in weight. The oxide has now been re¬ 
duced to the pure metal form, and it may then be 
cooled. 

In the case of the analysis we are now upon, the 
metallic reduction will be that of both nickel and 
cobalt, and they will appear as a dark powder in 
the bottom of the crucible. 

When the hydrogen apparatus is no longer to be 
used, the generator bottle A should be washed 
thoroughly and the zinc also; the latter may be left 
in the bottle and the cork replaced loosely, but the 
cork must be removed from bottle B, and a tight- 
fitting cork be used in its place, as the chloride may 
be used again. All is ready for another operation 
by simply replacing and adding water and acid as 
before. 

14. Separation of Nickel and Cobalt. The 
two metals should be weighed in order that if the 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 179 

cobalt be found, the nickel may be known by the 
difference. Dissolve the two metals in nitric acid 
and evaporate them till there is no free nitric acid. 
Next add about 6 to 8 grams (100 grains), po¬ 
tassium nitrate dissolved in 10 to 15 c.c. of hot 
water. If any flocculent particles appear, add a 
little acetic acid, just sufficient to dissolve them, and 
now a precipitate of cobalt (as tripotassium cobaltic 
nitrite), takes place slowly. The whole volume 
should now be 15 to 20 c.c. Cover the beaker con¬ 
taining it with glass, and set it aside in a warm 
place for twenty-four hours. Filter, wash with a 
solution of potassium acetate (which may be made 
by neutralizing acetic acid with crystallized potas¬ 
sium bicarbonate, leaving the solution slightly 
acid), and proceed to more efficiently separate the 
cobalt as a metal, as follows : 

Dilute the filtrate, heat, and precipitate with 
caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), wash the greater 
part of the saline matter out and then dissolve the 
precipitate in nitric acid, evaporate to dryness, add 
two or three drops of nitric acid and dissolve in a 
small volume of water, filter, concentrate the filtrate, 
and repeat the process of separation with potassium 
nitrite as before. Put this precipitate, with the 
filter-paper, into a beaker, add about 100 c.c. of 
water, heat, add muriatic acid to dissolve it, separate 
the filter-paper by filtering it and washing it in a 
funnel, evaporate the solution on a water-bath, and 
let it remain on the water-bath two or three hours 
to render the silica insoluble, then moisten with 


180 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


muriatic acid, add water, filter, and convert the co¬ 
balt to metallic form, as was done before for both 
nickel and cobalt, namely, as in paragraph No. 11. 
The cobalt is now entirely separate from the nickel. 
Weigh it, and by difference from the weight of the 
two determine the weight of nickel as suggested in 
No. 14. The amount of nickel is now known by 
weight, and readily compared with the whole 
amount of the original weight of ore employed at 
the beginning. 

If the above process is carefully followed out, in a 
mineral containing lead, copper, iron, cobalt, and 
nickel, the cobalt and nickel are separated with 
great exactness. 

But the main ore of nickel is pyrrhotite, and, as 
in the Gap Mine, Lancaster Co., Penn., and in the 
Sudbury Mines, Canada, pyrrhotite contains only 
iron and nickel, seldom cobalt enough to notice. 
So that much less work is required, as follows : Pul¬ 
verize, dissolve in muriatic acid in a flask. If 
much free acid is present, nearly neutralize with 
sodium or ammonium carbonate ; the solution should 
be clear, hut, if there is much ferric chloride, it 
should be of a deep-red color; now do as directed in 
No. 8, to add the ammonium acetate, and proceed 
as before. 

In view of the importance of nickel-steel armor 
plates, prospecting for nickel is a work of unusual 
interest. In addition to the discovery of the nickel 
pyrrhotite in Canada, which we have already no¬ 
ticed, new discoveries have been reported from New 


MERCURY, BISMUTH. NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 181 

Caledonia, an island 900 miles east of Australia. 
The ore is a nickel silicate and has been named 
Garnierite, after M. Gamier, its discoverer. It is 
also found in Oregon. It contains from 8 to 10 per 
cent, of nickel, has a green color and yields *an un¬ 
colored streak. 

The mines at the Gap, Lancaster Co., Penna., are 
considered nearly, if not quite exhausted, and the 
miners are looking for richer veins of ore. There is 
now, as may readily be imagined, increased demand 
for nickel ores. 

Cobalt.— Cobalt does not occur in native form. 
The following are the minerals of importance: 

Smaltite seems to be composed of cobalt, nickel, 
iron and arsenic ; the typical form is arsenic 72.1, 
cobalt 9.4, nickel 9.5, iron 9 = 100. Hardness 
5.5-6, specific gravity 6.4-7.2. Color, tin-white, 
sometimes iridescent. Streak, grayish-black. Brittle. 
Before the blow'-pipe, on charcoal with soda, the 
arsenious acid fumes are given off, and the garlic 
smell is plainly observed. With borax for the bead 
the assay may be made to show (with successive 
heatings), the reactions first of iron, then cobalt, and 
nickel, provided the operator is skillful in oxidizing 
the powdered ore by cautious degrees; when one 
borax bead shows iron reaction by a certain amount 
of carefully applied OF to the bead, try another 
with increased degree of oxidization until you per¬ 
ceive the cobalt blue and nickel brown, if both are 
present. 

Cobaltite is composed of sulphur, arsenic, and 


182 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


cobalt in the typical proportions of 19.3,45.2, 35.5= 
100, but it frequently, as a mineral, contains iron. 
Hardness 5.5, specific gravity 6-6.3. Under the 
blow-pipe, in an open tube, it sends off sulphurous 
fumes*and a sublimate of arsenous acid. With borax 
bead gives the blue of cobalt. Dissolves in warm 
nitric acid, separating the sulphur and arsenic. 

Cobaltite and smaltite are valuable as affording 
the greater part of smalt of commerce, and the for¬ 
mer is used in porcelain painting. 

Erythrite is a soft (1.5-2.5), peach-red mineral 
of specific gravity 2.9, transparent or translucent, 
sometimes pearl- or greenish-gray. 

Composition, typical, arsenic 38.43, cobalt oxide 
37.55, water 24.02 = 100. 

In a closed tube, under blow-pipe, it yields water 
and turns bluish. Gives the usual blue for cobalt 
in the borax bead. 

Valuable for the manufacture of smalt. It is 
sometimes known as “ cobalt bloom” 

Linn^eite. This is valuable for the large amount 
of both cobalt and nickel it sometimes contains. 
Hardness 5.5, specific gravity 4.8-5 ; metallic lustre; 
color, pale steel-gray, tarnishing to red. Composi¬ 
tion, sulphur 42, cobalt 58 = 100, but cobalt is re¬ 
placed by large amounts of nickel, and sometimes 
copper. Some specimens from Mineral Hill, Mary¬ 
land, and from Missouri, have yielded as high as 
29.56 and 30 per cent, nickel, with 21 to 25 per 
cent, cobalt in the same specimen, but with a small 
amount of iron (3 per cent.). 


MERCURY, BISMUTH, NICKEL, COBALT, ETC. 183 

Earthy Cobalt, or Cobalt Wad (Asbolite is the 
mineralogical name), occurs as a bog ore, with man¬ 
ganese, iron and copper, and nickel. It is blue- 
black at times, has a hardness of 1 to 1.5, and 
specific gravity of 2.2 to 2.6. It sometimes contains 
up to 35 per cent, of cobalt oxide. 

Its geological position is in the earlier rocks, as 
the chlorite slates with chalcopyrite, blende, and 
pyrite, as in Maryland. Sometimes the ore is found 
in cavities in the limestone of the carboniferous age, 
as in Great Britain. The tin-white cobalt is found 
in the gneissic and primitive rocks, as in Norway. 
Linnseite is found at Mine la Motte, Mo., in masses, 
sometimes in octahedral crystals among its rich ores 
of lead and nickel. 

Cadmium. Of this mineral but one ore is known, 
namely, the sulphide, or Greenockite, with 77.7 
per cent, cadmium. Color, honey to orange-yellow 
and brick-red; in hexagonal prisms; hardness 3 to 
3.5 ; specific gravity 4.5 to 4.908. Before the blow¬ 
pipe, on charcoal with soda, it yields a red-brown 
deposit. Cadmium is frequently associated with 
zinc ores, the blende of Eaton, for instance, contain¬ 
ing 3.4 per cent. 

Metallic cadmium is white like tin, and shares 
with it the property of emitting a crackling sound 
when bent. It is so soft that it leaves a mark upon 
paper. 


CHAPTER XI. 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, AND OTHER 
MINERALS. 

Aluminium is not found native. It is the basis 
of all days, which are oxides of aluminium com¬ 
bined with various other substances, as silex, iron, 
magnesia, and lime, but chiefly silex, so that clay 
may be known, chemically, as a silicate of alumina. 

The sapphire and true ruby are pure crystalized 
oxides of aluminium. Emery and corundum are 
impure oxides. 

It is formed from the breaking down or wear 
chiefly of the feldspathic rocks or elements of granite 
or gneiss and porphyries. Where great masses have 
been formed they make up the kaolin used in the 
manufacture of porcelain. 

The most valuable kaolins are those entirely free 
from iron. This is easily tested by the blow-pipe, 
since, when the kaolin is heated, it changes from 
white to brown, a proof that iron is present. Kaolin 
beds without any trace of iron are valuable. 

Corundum is the sesquioxide of aluminium, and 
is valuable for its abrasive qualities. It is infusible 
before the blow-pipe and is not affected by. acids or 
by heat. It crystallizes in six-sided prisms, often 
(184) 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 185 

irregularly shaped, and sometimes occurs in granu¬ 
lar masses. Transparent or opaque. Lustre glassy, 
sometimes pearly. Fracture uneven or conchoidal. 
Specific gravity 3.9 to 4.2. Hardness 9, it being, 
next to diamond, the hardest of minerals. It is 
generally found associated with some member of the 
chlorite group, and a series of aluminous minerals 
in part produced from its alteration. 

Corundum, and more especially the impure form, 
crushed to different degrees of fineness, makes the 
abrading and polishing material known in com¬ 
merce as emery. This is used either as a powder or 
mixed with other materials to make it cohere. It 
is made into various shapes for cutting, abrading, 
and polishing—emery wheels, etc. 

Common corundum occurs in Massachusetts at 
Chester, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and still more 
in North Carolina and the adjacent states of South 
Carolina and Georgia. 

Cryolite is a double fluoride of aluminium and 
sodium, and contains sometimes 13 per cent, of alu¬ 
minium. At present it is imported from Greenland, 
but it exists and is reported as found in the United 
States. 

Hardness 2.5, specific gravity 3. It is white, with 
various shades of yellow and light brown, easily 
fusible in a candle flame. Translucent; brittle. 

With the blow-pipe, on charcoal, it fuses to a 
clear bead, becoming opaque on cooling. After 
long blowing with 0 F the assay spreads out, the 
fluoride of sodium sinks into the coal, and the suffo- 


186 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


eating odor of fluorine is given off and the alumina 
remains as a crust, which, if touched with a little 
cobalt solution and gently heated, gives a blue color 
of alumina. If some of the cryolite is powdered 
and placed near the open end of a glass tube and 
the flame from the blow-pipe turned carefully on it, 
the fluorine will be freed and will etch the glass, 
showing corrosion and proving the presence of 
fluorine. 

Cryolite is used as a flux, but its principal appli¬ 
cation is for the manufacture of aluminate of soda, 
and as a source of the metal aluminium. 

Bauxite. This mineral is soft and granular, and 
abounds in some places. It is easily worked, and, 
although it contains only from 50 to 70 per cent, 
of the oxide of aluminium, it has only a small per 
cent, of impurity beside the water of combination. 
It is supposed to be the most economical ore for the 
production of aluminium. The finely pulverized 
mineral is mixed with sodium carbonate, 3 of the 
latter to 1 of the former, heated below the melting 
point, the mass well stirred all the time until, when 
any portion is treated with an acid, there is no effer¬ 
vescence. The mass is taken out of the heat, ground 
and lixiviated with hot water, which extracts the 
sodium aluminate in solution, leaving the silica and 
iron insoluble. The alumina is precipitated from 
the clear solution by means of carbonic acid gas 
forming sodium carbonate, while the alumina settles 
to the bottom of the vessel. This is washed with 
hot water and dried. From this the metal is formed 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 187 


chiefly by electrolysis from the pure oxide or from 
its salts, as reported by Alfred E. Hunt.* 

Bauxite, is a ferruginous clay of dull lustre and 
of various colors, specific gravity 2.55, the impuri¬ 
ties being, generally, a small quantity of silica with 
a sesquioxide of iron and water. It is soluble in 
sulphuric acid. 

Deposits of. bauxite have been found in Alabama, 
Georgia and Arkansas. The ore occurs associated 
with limonites and kaolins in irregular beds, in the 
region underlaid by the Knox dolomite of the Lower 
Silurian formation. In Alabama these occurrences 
are always near to the foot-hills of the mountains 
formed of the Weisner quartzite or sandstone, which 
in Alabama is a member of the Cambrian. The 
bauxite, therefore, seems to be associated chiefly 
with the lower beds of the Knox dolomite. In 
Georgia the bauxite occurs in the same formation, 
and in Arkansas in territorial areas and in the 
neighborhood of eruptive syenites. 

There are some rich clays, existing in large quan¬ 
tities, which, when digested with sulphuric acid, 
part with their silica ; and other processes may be 
found for preparing clay so as to eliminate both iron 
and silica, which detracts from the purity of the 
metal aluminium. 

There are at Gay Head, on the west end of Mar¬ 
tha’s Vineyard, immense cliffs of clay of several 
colors. Some of this clay is nearly white, and shows 

* Technology Quarterly, Vol. IV., No. 3, April, 1891. 


188 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


little or no iron under the blow-pipe. There are 
tons of it which show very little silica, if the trial of 
small quantities proves what the masses are. Clays 
of this kind may yet prove to be the chief economic 
source of the metal aluminium. 

ANTIMONY. This metal is usually found asso¬ 
ciated with arsenic and sulphur, the chief ore being 

Stibnite, which is a sulphide of antimony, anti¬ 
mony 71.8, sulphur 28.2. This ore affords nearly 
all the antimony of commerce. Hardness 2, gravity 
4.5, metallic lustre ; color and streak lead-gray, sec- 
tile. When pure, perfectly soluble in muriatic acid. 

Before the blow-pipe, on charcoal, it fuses, spreads 
out, gives sulphurous and antimonious fumes, coats 
the coal with white oxide of antimony ; this coat 
treated in B F tinges the flame greenish-blue. 

Geology. It is found in veins in some places, 
as in Wolfsberg, in the Hartz, and other localities. 
Abundant in the granitic ranges south side of Tu¬ 
lare Valley, near the pass of South Amedia, South 
Central California. Found in the metamorphic 
rocks. It occurs with ores of silver, lead, and zinc, 
when it gives great trouble in purifying those metals. 

MANGANESE. The ores of manganese are di- 
yided into three general classes :— 

1. Manganese ores. 

2. Manganiferous iron ores. 

3. Argentiferous manganese ores. 

Wad is the name given to manganese oxide. It 
is found in earthy compact masses of a dark brown 
color, chiefly oxide of manganese and water. 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 189 

Easily recognized under the blow-pipe, as it gives 
(in minute quantities), in the borax bead, a violet 
color in the 0 F , but disappears when the R F is 
turned upon it, and reappears when the 0 F is re¬ 
peated. 

It is found in beds varying from several inches to 
a foot or more in thickness. Hardness 1 to 3, spe¬ 
cific gravity 2.3 to 3.7. Wad is used as a flux in 
iron smelting, and in a lixiviated state as a paint. 

Pyrolusite. This is the peroxide or dioxide, 
with 63.2 per cent, of manganese and 36.8 percent, 
oxygen. Its crystalline form is the rhombic prism 
and it generally occurs in the form of minute crys¬ 
tals grouped together and radiating from a common 
centre. It has an iron-black or steel-gray color, a 
semi-metallic lustre and yields a black streak. Spe¬ 
cific gravity 4.7 to 5 ; hardness 1.5 to 2.5 ; infusible 
before the blow-pipe, and acquires a red-brown color. 
On heating it generally yields some water and loses 
12 per cent, of oxygen. With borax, soda and mi- 
crocosmic salt it shows manganese reaction. It dis¬ 
solves in hydrochloric acid, when heated, with vig¬ 
orous evolution of hydrogen. 

Psilomelane occurs massive, frequently shelly, 
seldom fibrous; color, iron-black to bluish-black, 
streak bluish-black and shining; .fracture, con- 
choidal to smooth. Specific gravity 4.1 to 4.2, hard¬ 
ness 5.5 to 6. Before the blow 7 -pipe it yields man¬ 
ganic oxide, giving off oxygen. It is soluble in 
hydrochloric acid, chlorine being evolved. The 
powdered ore colors sulphuric acid red. Psilome- 


190 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


lane contains from 40 to 50 per cent, of manganese, 
and some baryta and potassa. A solution in hydro¬ 
chloric acid of the variety containing baryta gives a 
heavy white precipitate with sulphuric acid. 

Manganese Carbonate (.Rhodochrosite is the 
mineralogical name) occurs in spherical and nodular 
aggregations of cauliform texture or in compact 
masses of granular texture. It is rose-red to rasp¬ 
berry-red in color, by weathering frequently brown¬ 
ish, with a glassy or mother-of-pearl lustre. It 
cleaves like calcite. It contains 61.4 per cent, of 
manganese protoxide and 38.6 per cent, of carbonic 
acid, with part of manganese frequently replaced by 
calcium, magnesium, or iron. Specific gravity 3.3 
to 3.6 ; hardness 3.5 to 4.5. Before the blow-pipe it 
is infusible and becomes black. From similar min¬ 
erals it is distinguished by its rose-color and the 
manganese reaction with soda and borax ; and from 
silicate of manganese by its inferior hardness, its 
effervescence with acids and its non-fusibility. 

The manganese in ores of the third class is valu¬ 
able, even where the silver alone is sought, as it 
facilitates the work whereby the silver is extracted ; 
this it does because of its fluxing quality. 

Virginia, Georgia and Arkansas are the chief 
producing States. 

The geological position of manganese in some 
places seems to be the same as with the red hematite, 
as in Virginia. 

In Tennessee it is found in the foot-hills of the 
mountains, four miles from Newport, Cocke Co., in 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 191 

pockets, and is a black oxide of 48 per cent, metallic 
manganese. 

In Vermont it is found near a siliceous limestone, 
and in the vicinity of brown hematite ores. It ex¬ 
ists in the triassic formation in Bosnia. 

In North Carolina it is found in light-colored 
gneissic schists. 

OTHER USEFUL MINERALS. 

Alum is hydrated sulphate of potash and alumina, 
and is best known by its astringent sweetish taste. 
Hardness 2 to 2.5. Specific gravity 1.8. Soluble 
in its own weight of boiling water. Found incrust- 
ing and impregnating dark slaty rocks, with yellow 
streaks. Used in dyeing and calico printing, candle¬ 
making, dressing skins, clarifying liquors, and in 
pharmacy. 

Apatite, Phosphate of Lime, occurs in six-sided 
prisms, also in masses. It is transparent or opaque; 
colorless, white, yellowish, green, violet, with a 
glassy lustre, and yields always a white streak. 
Fracture, conchoidal or uneven. Specific gravity 
3.16 to 3.22; hardness 5. In thin laminae it is 
fusible with difficulty before the blow-pipe; when 
moistened with sulphuric acid tinges the flame 
greenish. It is soluble in hydrochloric and nitric 
acids without effervescence. From beryl it is dis¬ 
tinguished by its inferior hardness and its solubility 
in acids. It occurs in rocks of various kinds, but 
more frequently in those of a metamorphic crystal¬ 
line character, as in Laurentian gneiss, which is 


192 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

usually hornblendic, granitic or quartzose in char¬ 
acter, in Canada, and in association with granular 
limestone. It is also found as an accessory mineral 
in metalliferous veins, especially those of tin, and 
beautifully crystallized and of various colors in 
many eruptive rocks. It also occurs in veins by 
itself, mostly in limestone, but sometimes in gran¬ 
ites and schists. In these deposits apatite is also 
found as concretions, sometimes showing a radiated 
structure, but of an earthy appearance externally. 

In sedimentary formations where a considerable 
accumulation of fossils has provided the phosphate 
of lime it occurs in two principal forms, namely 
coprolites, which are excreta of large animals, 
especially saurians, and concretions formed at the 
expense of the same coprolites, together with shells, 
bones, etc. The richest of these deposits are from 
Lower Cretaceous to Lower Jurassic in age, but 
phosphatic deposits are found and worked in sedi¬ 
mentary deposits of all ages. 

The principal use of apatite is as as a source of 
phosphoric acid and phosphorus, and before the 
discovery of the phosphate-rock deposits in Florida 
was largely sold to the manufacturers of fertilizers. 

Arsenic is found in the mineral kingdom partly 
in a metallic state, partly in combination with 
ox}rgen, sutphur and other bodies. 

1. Native Arsenic occurs seldom distinctly crystal¬ 
lized, but usually in fine granular, spherical or nod¬ 
ular masses. Specific gravity 5.7 to 5.8 ; hardness 
3.5; brittle; uneven and fine-grained fracture; 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 193 

metallic lustre; color, whitish lead-gray, usually 
with a grayish-black tarnish; evolves an odor of 
garlic on breaking; contains occasionally more or 
less iron, cobalt, nickel, antimony and silver. Be¬ 
fore the blow-pipe it quickly volatilizes before fusing, 
giving off white fumes having an odor of garlic. 
Native arsenic occurs especially in veins in crystal¬ 
line slates and transition rocks in subordinate quan¬ 
tities associated with ores of silver, lead, cobalt and 
nickel. 

2. Realgar, with 70.029 percent, of arsenic and 
29.971 per cent, sulphur. Color, red ; crystallizes 
clinorhombic; fracture conchoidal to splintery ; 
hardness 1.5 to 2.0 ; specific gravity 3.4 to 3.6. It 
is but slightly affected by acids; soluble with a de¬ 
posit of sulphur in aqua regia, and in concentrated 
potash lye with separation of dark brown sulphuret 
of arsenic. From ruby silver and cinnabar, it is 
readily distinguished by its inferior hardness, 
slighter specific gravity and orange-yellow streak, 
the streak of the two above-mentioned minerals be¬ 
ing cochineal-red. 

3. Orpiment, with 60.9 per cent, of arsenic and 
39.1 per cent, of sulphur, occurs in nature, but for 
industrial purposes is mostly artifically prepared. 
The mineral has a lustrous lemon-yellow or orange- 
yellow color, is cleavable into thin, flexible, trans¬ 
parent laminse ; hardness 1.5 to 2 ; specific gravity 
3.4 to 3.5 ; soluble in nitric acid, potash lye and 
ammonia. 

Asbestos. Fibrous. Color, green or white. The 
13 


194 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

asbestos of commerce is practically a finely fibrous 
form of serpentine, that .is to say, it is essentially a 
hydrated silica of magnesia. Every deposit of ser¬ 
pentine is a possible repository of asbestos. It 
occurs in seams half an inch to several inches in 
width, running parallel or crossing one another, the 
width of each seam making the length of the fibre. 
Canada furnishes at present a large portion of the 
world’s supply of asbestos; the profitable mining, 
however, is at present confined to a small area in 
the great serpentine belt of the Province of Quebec, 
that lies to the south of the St. Lawrence River. 
In the form of a rough cloth asbestos is used for 
covering steam-pipes, and for many purposes requir¬ 
ing an incombustible material. 

Barytes, or barium sulphate , commonly called 
heavy spar, occurs in tabular, glassy crystals, and 
also in dull mases in veins of various rock forma¬ 
tions. Color, white or tinted; transparent or trans¬ 
lucent ; lustre, vitreous or pearly. Specific gravity, 
4.3 to 4.7. Hardness, 3 to 3.5. It is readily dis¬ 
tinguished by its great comparative weight. When 
heated in the blow-pipe flame splinters fly off the 
crystals. It fuses with difficulty, and imparts a 
green tinge to the flame. After fusion with soda, 
it stains silver coin black. It is not acted upon by 
acids. 

In the United States barytes is found in many 
places, it being mined in Virginia, Missouri, New 
Jersey and other states. It frequently occurs in 
connection with lead and zinc deposits forming the 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 195 

gangue of the metal-bearing vein. The best varie¬ 
ties of barytes are the white and gray. The chief 
use of barytes is as a pigment, as a cheaper substi¬ 
tute for white lead. It is also used as a make¬ 
weight by paper manufacturers, etc. 

The carbonate of barium, witherite, is a much less 
common mineral than the sulphate. It sometimes 
occurs in crystals, but the more common form is 
that in fibrous masses. It occurs in veins. It 
fuses easily in the forceps, and gives a yellow-green 
flame. In hydrochloric acid it dissolves with effer¬ 
vescence, the solution yielding a heavy white pre¬ 
cipitate (barium sulphate) if a little sulphuric acid 
is added. Witherite is used in the refining of 
sugar, and also in the manufacture of plate glass. 

Borax. Monoclinic. Fracture, conchoidal. Lus¬ 
tre, vitreous to resinous. Color, white, sometimes 
grayish, bluish, or greenish. Streak, white. Taste, 
slightly alkaline and sweetish. Translucent to 
opaque. Principal producing localities in the 
United States: the Columbus and Rhodes marshes 
in Nevada, the Saline marshes in California. In 
the Calico district the borate of lime is taken from 
a fissure vein, and this district is the only place in 
the world where deep mining for borax is carried on. 

Borax is used in medicine and’ as an antiseptic 
by meat packers and others. Its chief use, how T - 
ever, is as a flux in metallurgical operations, in 
enamelling, glazing of pottery and in the manu¬ 
facture of glass. 

Clays. The clays are all products of alteration 


196 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

from other minerals. Their composition is variable 
and they do not crystallize. The true clays are all 
plastic and refractory to a greater or less degree, 
and on these properties their value for industrial 
purposes depends. Pure kaolin is the type of all 
the clays. 

The presence of alkalies in clays is objectionable, 
as it renders them fusible, as also do many other 
oxides. Iron is not only objectionable on the score 
of fusibility, but also as coloring matter. The 
presence of too large a proportion of water, carbonic 
acid or organic matter, causes clay to contract under 
the action of fire, and the same result will ensue if 
the clay is partially fusible. 

The soft clays are divided into kaolin , China clay , 
or porcelain clay , which is nearly pure, and is de¬ 
rived from the decomposition of feldspar in peg¬ 
matite or granite ; plastic or pottery clay, not so pure 
as kaolin, and bole , containing a large percentage 
of oxide of iron. Fuller's earth is a kind of clay 
composed, when pure, of 45 per cent, silica, 20 to 25 
per cent, alumina, and water. It was formerly 
largely used as an absorbent in fulling or freeing 
woolen fabrics and cloth from fatty matters, but in 
modern times other substances have been substi¬ 
tuted, and the consumption of it has greatly fallen 
off. 

Coal (Mineral). Massive, uncrystalline. Color, 
black or brown; opaque. Brittle or imperfectly 
sectile. Hardness 0.5 to 2.5. Specific gravity 1.2 
to 1,80. Coal is composed of carbon with some 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 197 

oxygen and hydrogen, more or less moisture, and 
traces also of nitrogen, besides some earthy material 
which constitutes the ash. 

Anthracite (Glance coal , Stone coal). Lustre high, 
not resinous, sometimes submetallic. Color, gray- 
black. Hardness 2 to 2.5. Specific gravity, if pure, 
1.57 to 1.67. Fracture often conchoidal. Good 
anthracite contains 78 to 88 per cent, of fixed carbon. 

Bituminous coal. Color, black. Lustre, usually 
somewhat resinous. Hardness 1.5 to 2; specific 
gravity 1.2 to 1.4. Contains usually 75 to 85 per 
cent, of carbon. 

Cannel coal. Very compact and even in texture, 
with little lustre, and fracture largely conchoidal. 

Brown coal (often called lignite). Color, black to 
brownish black. Contains 52 to 65 per cent, of 
fixed carbon. 

Jet resembles cannel coal, but is harder, of a 
deeper black and higher lustre. It takes a brilliant 
polish and is set in jewelry. 

Dolomite is composed of carbonic acid, lime, 
magnesia. It occurs in rhombohedrons, faces often 
curved. It is frequently granular or massive ; white 
or dull tinted ; and glassy or pearly. Specific grav¬ 
ity 2.8 to 2.9 ; hardness 3.5 to 4. Effervesces in 
nitric acid and dissolves more slowly than calc spar. 
Yields quicklime when burnt. Occurs in extensive 
beds of various ages like limestone. It is used as a 
building-stone and in the manufacture of Epsom 
salts. It is difficult to distinguish from calcite 
without chemical analysis. 


198 PROSPECTOR'S field-book and guide. 

Feldspar, Orthoclase, is composed of silica, 
alumina, potash or soda (lime). Crystallized or in 
irregular masses. Opaque; usually flesh red or 
white, or of various dull tints. Lustre, glassy or 
pearly ; fracture, irregular, but in some directions it 
splits with an even, glimmering cleavage face. 
Specific gravity 2.3 to 2.8 ; hardness 6. Before the 
blow-pipe it fuses with difficulty ; is not touched by 
acids. Where found in sufficient quantity to be of 
industrial value, it is usually obtained from veins 
in granite or pegmatite. The minerals associated 
with feldspar are chiefly quartz and mica, while 
tourmaline and topaz also occur commonly. Feld¬ 
spar is, to a limited extent, employed in the manu¬ 
facture of glass, but the chief use for it is as a china 
glaze and as a glass-forming ingredient in the body 
of the porcelains. 

Fluorspar, Fluorite, consists of 48.7 per cent, 
of fluorine and 51.3 per cent, of calcium. It occurs 
in cubes or octahedrons, and also in masses. It is 
transparent or opaque ; white or light violet, blue, 
green or yellow ; sometimes layers of different tints 
in the same piece. Lustre, glassy. It breaks with 
smooth cleavage planes parallel to the octahedral 
faces. Specific gravit} r 3 to 3.2 ; hardness 4. Be¬ 
fore the blow-pipe it is fusible with difficulty to an 
enamel. It is used in the manufacture of hydro¬ 
fluoric acid, with which glass is etched, and also as 
a flux for copper and other ores. Sometimes it is 
employed for ornaments, especially massive pieces, 
they taking a high polish. It occurs in veins with 
lead and silver ores. 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 199 

Graphite, Plumbago, Blacklead, consists of 
carbon. It occurs in hexagonal crystals, but usu¬ 
ally in foliated or massive layers. Color, steel gray 
to bluish black. Hardness very slight, 0.5 to 1. 
Soils the fingers, makes a mark upon paper, and feels 
greasy. The specific gravities of different kinds of 
graphite vary according to the content of foreign 
admixtures, but lie within the limits of 2.105 and 
2.5857. Graphite is not affected by acids and 
strongly resists other chemical agents. It is largely 
used in the manufacture of pencils, crucibles, stove 
polish, and lubricants for heavy machinery. It is 
found in various parts of the world, chiefly in crys¬ 
talline limestone, in gneiss and mica schists, fre¬ 
quently replacing the mica in the latter so that they 
become actual graphite schists. Graphite is exten¬ 
sively mined at Graphite, Warren Co., N. Y., and 
at Cranston, R. I. In the Rocky Mountains veins 
of graphite of considerable size have been found in 
Wyoming and in Colorado, where it occurs in beds 
two feet thick, but very impure; in the coal meas¬ 
ures of New Mexico, in Nevada, in Utah, and in the 
Black Hills of South Dakota. 

The value of graphite depends upon the amount 
of its carbon. To test the purity of graphite, pul¬ 
verize and then dry at about 350° F. 20 grains of 
it; then place it in a tube of hard glass 4 to 5 inches 
long, half an inch wide, and closed on one end. 
Add twenty times as much dried oxide of lead and 
mix intimately. Weigh the tube and contents, and 
afterwards heat before the blow-pipe until the con- 


200 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

tents are completely fused and no longer evolve 
gases. Ten minutes will suffice for this. Allow the 
tube to cool, and weigh it. The loss in weight is 
carbonic acid. For every 28 parts of loss there 
must have been 12 of carbon. 

Gypsum is a hydrous sulphate of lime, and is com¬ 
posed of sulphuric acid, lime and water. It occurs 
in prisms with oblique terminations, sometimes re¬ 
sembling an arrow-head. It is transparent or 
opaque, white or dull tinted, with a glassy, pearly 
or satin lustre. Cleavage occurs easily in one di¬ 
rection ; specific gravity 2.3 ; hardness 2 ; can be 
readily cut with the knife. In the blow-pipe flame 
it becomes white and opaque without fusing, and 
can then be easily crumbled between the fingers. 
Nitric acid does not cause effervescence. It occurs 
in fissures and in stratified rocks, often forming 
extensive beds. When pure white it is called Ala¬ 
baster ; when transparent Selenite, and when 
fibrous Satin Spar. When burnt, gypsum loses its 
water and falls to powder. This powder, called 
Plaster of Paris, which is perfectly white when 
free from iron, possesses the property of reabsorbing 
the water lost, and in a very short time of assuming 
again the solid state, expanding slightly in so 
doing. It is this lost property that renders plaster 
of Paris so valuable for obtaining casts. It is also 
used as a fertilizer. 

Infusorial Earth is an earth} 7 , sometimes chalk¬ 
like siliceous material, entirely or largely made up 
of the microscopic shells of the minute organisms 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 201 

called diatoms. It occurs in beds sometimes of 
great extent, sometimes beneath peat beds, and is 
obtained for commerce in Maine, New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Virginia, California, Nevada, Mis¬ 
souri. It feels harsh between the fingers and is of 
a white or grayish color, but often discolored by 
various impurities. Infusorial earth is used as a 
polishing powder, electro-silicon being the trade 
name of one kind much used for polishing silver. 
It is also used for making soda silicate and for 
purposes of a cement. Being a bad conductor of 
heat it is applied as a protection to steam boilers 
and pipes. It is also employed for filling soap. 

Lithographic Limestone. The only stone yet 
found possessing the necessary qualifications for 
lithographic work is a fine-grained homogeneous 
limestone, breaking with an imperfect shell-like or 
conchoidal fracture, and, as a rule, of a gray, drab 
or yellowish color. A good stone must be suffici¬ 
ently porous to absorb the greasy compound which 
holds the ink, soft enough to work readily under 
the engraver’s tool, yet not too soft, and must be 
firm in texture throughout and entirely free from 
all veins and inequalities. The best stone, and 
indeed the only one which has yet been found to 
fill satisfactorily all these requirements, occurs at 
Solenhofen, Bavaria. These beds are of Upper 
Jurassic age, and form a mass of some eighty feet 
in thickness. The prevailing tints of the stone are 
yellowish or drab. 

In the United States materials partaking of the 


202 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


nature of lithographic stone have been reported 
from various localities, but we believe all have 
failed as a source of supply of the commercial arti¬ 
cle, though it is possible that ignorance as to the 
proper methods of quarrying may in some cases 
have been a cause of failure. 

Meerschaum or Sepiolite is a magnesium sili¬ 
cate. When pure, it is very light; and, when dry, 
it will float upon water. It will be recognized by 
its property, when dry, of adhering to the tongue, 
and by its smooth, compact texture. It is generally 
found in serpentine, in which rock it occurs in 
nodular masses; but it is also found in limestones 
of tertiary age. It is of a snowy white color and a 
useful substance when found in quantity, being 
much employed for the bowls of tobacco pipes, and 
for this purpose is mined in Asia Minor. 

Micas. These are silicates of alumina with pot¬ 
ash, rarely soda or lithia, also magnesia, iron and 
some other elements. Always crystallized in thin 
plates, which may be split into extremely thin flex¬ 
ible layers. Transparent in thin layers. Color, 
white, green, brown to black. Specific gravity 2.7 
to 3.1. Hardness 2 to 2.5 ; very easily scratched 
with a knife. Before the blow-pipe it whitens, but 
is infusible except on thin edges. When it can be 
obtained in large sheets, mica is very valuable. It 
is sometimes used in the place of window glass on 
board ship, for stoves and for chimneys for lamps. 
The ground material is used as a lubricant and in 
making ornamental and fire-proof paint. 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 203 

Biotite, or black mica, contains more magnesia 
than alumina. It is often present in eruptive rocks, 
especially some granites. Muscovite, or white 
mica, on the contrary, contains more alumina than 
magnesia, and as it also contains potash in small 
but appreciable quantities, it is sometimes called 
potash mica, and biotite magnesian mica. Muscovite 
is an important mineral to the tin miner, since it is 
always found in that class of granite in which tin¬ 
stone occurs, and with quartz alone forms the rock 
called greisen, which is very generally associated 
with tin. The rock in which large sheets of mica 
are found is called by some geologists pegmatite, and 
has the same composition as granite itself, but the 
crystals are of a larger size. 

Molybdenum. The sulphide occurs native as 
Molybdenite in crystallolaminar masses or tabular 
crystals, having a strong metallic lustre and lead- 
gray color, and forming a greenish-black streak 
which is best seen by drawing a piece across a china 
plate. Specific gravity 4.5 to 4.6 ; hardness 1 to 
1.5 ; easily scratched by the nail. It contains 58.9 
of molybdenum and 41.1 per cent, of sulphur. It 
occurs sparingly in granite, syenite and chlorite 
schists, and is sometimes mistaken for graphite, from 
which it is, however, readily distinguished by the 
streak, that of graphite being black. Before the 
blow-pipe it is infusible, but tinges the flame faint 
green. Heated on charcoal for a long time it gives 
off a faint sulphurous odor and becomes encrusted 
white. Its chief use is in the preparation of a blue 
color. 


204 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

Nitre or saltpetre is composed of potash and 
nitric acid. It is soluble in water. It has a cool¬ 
ing taste, and is easily distinguished by the vivid 
manner in which it burns on red-hot charcoal. It 
is usually found native as an efflorescence on the soil. 

Rock Salt has the character of ordinary table 
salt, but is more or less impure. Occurs in beds 
interstratified with sandstones and clays, which are 
usually of a red color and associated with gypsum. 
Specific gravity, 2 to 2.25 ; hardness, 2 to 2.5. It 
contains 39.30 per cent, of sodium and 60.66 per 
cent, of chlorine, but most samples contain clay and 
a little lime and magnesia. The surface indications 
of rock salt are brine springs supporting a vegetation 
like that near the sea coast, also occasional sinking 
of the soil caused by the removal of the subter¬ 
ranean bed of salt by spring water. Rock salt is ob¬ 
tained by sinking wells, from which the brine is 
pumped and evaporated in large pans, or by min¬ 
ing, the same as for any other ore. 

Slate is an argillaceous shale easily recognized 
by its cleavability, and varies in color from light 
sea-green and gray to red, purple and black. It has 
been formed by sedimentary deposits, and now con¬ 
stitutes extensive beds in the Silurian formation. 

Sulphur. Native sulphur occurs crystallized or 
massive in volcanic regions and in beds of gypsum. 
Color, yellow; lustre, resinous; specific gravity 
2.1; hardness 1.5 to 2.5. It is fusible and burns 
with a blue flame and well known odor. It is fre¬ 
quently found contaminated with clay or pitch. 


ALUMINIUM, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ETC. 205 

Talc or Soapstone, called Steatite when mass¬ 
ive, is a silicate of magnesia. It is trimetric, 
foliated or massive, nearly opaque, of a white or 
green color, pearly lustre and greasy feel. Specific 
gravity 2.7 ; hardness 1 ; easily impressed by the 
nail, but impure varieties are much harder. It is 
readily distinguished by its greasy feel and pearly 
lustre ; it is not attacked by boiling sulphuric acid. 
It is often applied to useful purposes, as for gas 
burners, a filling for paper, etc. 


CHAPTER XII. 


PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 

Crude petroleum occurs only in the higher 
strata of rocks, it being never found in metamorphic 
rocks or crystalline formation. The Pennsylvania 
oil strata belong to the Devonian age, the anticlinal 
ridges being more favorable, it is said, than the 
synclinal ones. In Kentucky it occurs near the 
base of carboniferous limestone. In California it is 
found in strata belonging to the tertiary age, in 
Colorado and other western States in those belong¬ 
ing to the cretaceous, and in North Carolina in 
those belonging to the triassic. In West Virginia it 
occurs in strata belonging to the coal measures. 
Crude petroleum is a fluid of a dark color, sometimes 
black, and contains 84 to 8-8 per cent, of carbon, 
the rest hydrogen. 

In prospecting for petroleum, the prospector, be¬ 
sides the customary outfit, should carry a stick pro¬ 
vided with a long iron point. It is best to follow 
the courses of rivers and creeks upward, because the 
progress of the work will not then be impeded by 
the turbidity of the water. It is also advisable to 
make such excursions in the warm season of the 
year, because the oil exudes more freely at that time 
(206) 


PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 207 

than in cogler weather, when especially heavy oils 
and mineral tar, or maltha, are readily converted 
into a butyraceous mass. It is also best to wait 
until the water in the rivers and creeks is low. 

Observe whether the surface of the water exhibits 
variegated iridescent figures, this being especially 
the case in places where the water stands quietly or 
moves very little, for instance, in coves. Such an 
iridescent film, when found, may be due to petro¬ 
leum, but also to iron oxides and similar substances. 
However, by touching the surface of the water, for 
instance, with the iron-pointed stick, a film of oxide 
of iron may be disintegrated in angular pieces and 
very small flakes, which can be moved in any direc¬ 
tion, while oil films, when separated, reunite, and 
can be readily distinguished from allied indications 
by the many changes in color and figures. To be 
sure, films of very heavy oil may occasionally be 
met with which can be separated into angular pieces, 
behaving in this respect like iron oxides, but they 
almost invariably exhibit variegated movable rings 
of color. In swamps other substances may produce 
a phenomenon similar to crude oil. 

When indications of oil have in this manner been 
discovered in a quiet part of a water-course, try to 
remove the iridescent film and turn up the bottom 
by several times driving the iron-pointed stick into 
it. If films of oil together with bubbles of gas re¬ 
appear, and this phenomenon occurs regularly after 
repeated experiments, there may be an outcrop of 
oil which deserves further examination. 


208 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

However, if the work with the iron-pointed stick 
yields negative results, the oil must have floated 
down from above, and the examination of the water¬ 
course has to be continued until by means of the 
iron-pointed stick the source of the traces of crude 
oil has been found. This source will usually be in 
sandstone or other porous rock, and pieces knocked 
off with a hammer will exhibit the oil generally in 
the form of drops, partly upon the surfaces of the 
strata and partly also in small cavities. Instead of 
petroleum, mineral tar—a black smeary mass—will 
frequently be found. 

The rock itself is occasionally impregnated, which 
may be recognized partly by the odor and partly by 
the so-called water-test. For this purpose place a 
piece of the rock in quiet water, if possible exposed 
to the rays of the sun ; if the rock contains oil the 
characteristic iridescent colors appear, as a rule, 
immediately upon the surface of the water. 

The fresh fracture of oil-bearing sandstone is, as a 
rule, of a darker color than that of adjoining rock. 
After rain, drops .of water adhere to out-crops of oil 
sandstone in a manner similar to that observed on 
other fatty substances. 

If in prospecting in water courses oil-bearing 
sandstone has been found, the question has to be 
answered whether the prospector has to deal with 
contiguous rock or simply with an erratic block. 
This question can, as a rule, be decided without 
much difficulty, from the position of the stratifica¬ 
tion and the petrographic character of the rock in 


PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 209 

question as compared with the surroundings. How¬ 
ever, if there is still a doubt, examine, by means of 
the water-test, the portions of rock in the natural 
continuation of the block. 

Should the oil-bearing rock actually turn out to 
be an erratic block, the rock from which it has been 
derived will be found above, either on the slopes or 
in the water-course itself. Knowing the petro¬ 
graphic character of the oil-bearing block, it will 
not be difficult to find in the neighborhood the rock 
from which it is derived. In the above-described 
manner the water-courses are traced to the limits of 
the territory. In carrying on the work of prospect¬ 
ing, it is advisable to examine specimens of all the 
sandstone by means of the water-test, since the latter 
frequently shows the presence of petroleum, though 
there may be no external indications of it. 

It may be mentioned, that in cooler weather the 
traces of oil upon the surface of the water do not 
yield blue, red, yellow, etc., figures, or at least not 
very vivid ones, but a milky, coloration, which pos¬ 
sibly may also be due to other causes, so that deter¬ 
mination is more difficult and less certain. This is 
another reason why it is advisable to select warm 
days for prospecting. That oil may also be detected 
by its odor need scarcely be mentioned. 

In swampy puddles iridescent films, which do not 
consist of iron oxides, but of hydrocarbons formed 
by decomposition, are occasionally met with. If due 
to the latter cause, they do not reappear, or at least 
only to a slight extent, when removed with the iron- 
14 


210 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

pointed stick from the surface of the water. How¬ 
ever, in examining the bottom, gas-bubbles gener¬ 
ally rise to the surface. Such puddles are examined 
first in the centre, and then by detaching pieces 
from the edges with the iron-pointed stick. 

Salses ( mud-volcanoes ), as well as abundant ex¬ 
halations of natural gas, if not derived from coal 
measures, are promising indications of the presence 
of petroleum in the territory. 

It need scarcely be mentioned that porous rock— 
if oil-bearing—-justifies greater expectations than 
compact rock, and that larger quantities of oil may 
be looked for in oil-bearing sandstone of greater 
thickness. 

Although, generally speaking, a rich occurrence 
of oil may be inferred from abundant indications in 
the outcrop, the reverse is not always correct; in 
many oil-fields, now productive, the indications 
when first found were not especially encouraging. 

If the oil occurs in definite geological horizons, 
the latter must be particularly searched for and 
traced and carefully examined in the water-courses 
crossing them, not only because the strata are there 
most denuded so as to allow of the best view of their 
geological structure, but also because the oil, since 
the restraining cover is wanting, has the best chance 
of exuding there, and the cut of the water-course is 
generally one of the lowest points of the outcrop, 
where the most abundant exudation takes place in 
consequence of the greater head of pressure. 

A very important question is whether the oil 


PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 211 

occurs ill beds or in veins. In answering this ques¬ 
tion the following particulars may serve as guiding 
points. 

With proportionately great denudation of the oil¬ 
bearing rock, it is sometimes possible directly to 
decide this question by observation, whereby the 
prospector, however, must take into consideration 
that even with a bed-like occurrence the oil will 
collect in small fissures. With a vein-like occur¬ 
rence a fissure may be traced to where it assumes 
larger dimensions in the strike and dip. 

If the prospector has to deal with a thick seam or 
stratum of sandstone, recognized as oil-bearing, im¬ 
bedded in another rock, for instance, shale, such 
seam should be traced and pieces freshly cut from it 
examined as to their content of oil by the water-test. 
If positive results are obtained, it may be inferred 
that the sendstone is the bearer of the oil, and that 
it is a bed-like occurrence. 

In a large mass of sandstone several outcrops of 
oil may sometimes be found at quite a distance from 
each other. If in tracing the stratum of the first 
outcrop according to its strike, the second, third, 
etc., outcrops are encountered, we have to do with a 
bed-like occurrence. This tracing of the stratum is 
effected by means of a compass, however, always with 
due consideration to the configuration of the ground. 
Suppose the cross-section of the sandstone bed with 
the declivity—the so-called outcrop-line—construed 
and traced. The outcrop-line will deviate the 
more from the straight line of strike, the flatter the 


212 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

strata and declivities lie. In tracing the same 
stratum, it must be observed whether its strike does 
not change, which, of course, will necessitate a 
change in the route of the prospector. 

If some promising outcrops of oil have been found, 


Fig. 55. 



which will justify the execution of more extensive 
and more expensive prospecting work, it is advis¬ 
able to mark accurately in the sketch-map, in addi¬ 
tion to the outcrops, the relative heights, generally 
determined by an aneroid barometer, the strike and 
dip of the stratum reduced to the astronomical 
meridian, and the outcrops of well characterized 





PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 213 

concordant strata, for instance, imbedded shale, S, 
Fig. 55, no matter whether they lie in the upcast or 
downcast of the crops of oil, a. The relative 
heights of one of these strata are determined in 
several places, selecting points which ean be readily 
found upon the map, and, if possible, lie at the same 
height, which can be readily effected without essen¬ 
tial error with the assistance of an aneroid barometer 
by taking observations in rapid succession. The 
points of same height, for instance, 1 and 2, give 
the strike of the stratum for a greater distance. 

By connecting the outcrops of oil a by a line A A, 
and again determining in the latter several points 
of the same height, for instance, 3, 4 and 5, the 
general strike is again obtained. If the latter runs 
parallel with the general strike of the characteristic 
stratum S, previously traced, one is justified in in¬ 
ferring a bed-like occurrence of oil, even if the con¬ 
strued dip of the outcrop line of oil corresponds with 
the observed local dip of the strata. 

In these investigations it is presupposed that the 
oil is recognized as exuding from the solid rock, an 
error regarding the outcrop of it being, therefore, 
excluded. Such an error may, however, occur when 
the outcrop is covered with loose masses of earth 
and rock, to the base of which the oil exuding 
above flows down hidden, and escapes further below 
by some accidental cause. 

A vein-like occurrence of oil will not show the 
above-mentioned conformities with the characteristic 
concordant strata. Such an occurrence presupposes 


214 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

a fissure, which is generally connected with a throw 
of the strata. This is most frequently established 
by the fact that a characteristic stratum suddenly 
ends and does not reappear in its natural continua¬ 
tion, but either to the right or left, or higher or 
lower. If two or more such points of disturbance 
have been found, their connecting line is the out¬ 
crop line of the fissure, Fig. 56. If this line passes 


Fig. 56. 



through the outcrop a, or if several outcrops lie in 
it, a vein-like occurrence of oil must be inferred. 

However, sometimes the oil occurs-in a maze of 
smaller and larger fissures. This is shown in the 
construction by the fact that in the presence of sev¬ 
eral outcrops a linear distribution of the same can¬ 
not be recognized, and that the combinations yield 
the most varying results, according to whether ex¬ 
ploration is carried on from the one or the other 


PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 215 

outcrop. Such occurrence presents uncommon dif¬ 
ficulties in prospecting. 

It need scarcely be mentioned that in prospecting 
for oil, it is of great importance to hunt up and map 
the anticlinals and their saddles, as well as faults. 

The directions here given for prospecting may 
have to he modified according to local conditions. 
With a sufficient preliminary knowledge of geology, 
any difficulties will, as a rule, be readily overcome 
by thoroughly digesting the principles of the direc¬ 
tions given. 

As regards the quality of the surface oil, it must 
be remembered that it is not a criterion for the oil 
occurring at greater depth. The oil thickens on 
the surface of the earth, and with increasing density 
becomes viscous and dark. If pale, limpid, and 
specifically lighter oil is found at the outcrop, it is 
sure evidence of oil of excellent quality at greater 
depth. In every case it may be expected that the 
quality of the oil at greater depth is superior to that 
at the outcrop. 

Ozocerite is a mineral paraffine or wax, and oc¬ 
curs generally in fissures and cavities in the neigh¬ 
borhood of coal-fields and deposits of rock salt, or 
under sandstone pervaded with bitumen. It is 
found in various localities in Africa, America, Asia 
and Europe. In the United States it occurs in 
Arizona, Texas and Utah. 

The most interesting deposit is in East Galicia; 
the ozocerite occurs there in a saliferous clay be¬ 
longing to the miocene of the more recent tertiary 


216 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

period, and forming a narrow, almost continuous 
strip on the northern edge of the Carpathian Moun¬ 
tains. This miocene group of saliferous clay con¬ 
sists chiefly of bluish and variegated clays, sands 
and sandstones, with numerous occurrences of gyp¬ 
sum, rock salt and salt springs. In Boryslaw, the 
strata of saliferous clay form a perceptible saddle as 
they sink on the south below the so-called menilite 

Fig. 57. 



slates, which are very bituminous and foliated, and 
form here the most northern edge of the Carpathian 
Mountains. The principal deposit of ozocerite con¬ 
verges with the axis of this saddle as shown in Fig. 
57, S being the strata of saliferous clay; and M 
menilite slate. 

Closely allied to ozocerite are the following min¬ 
eral resins: 

Retinite, generally of a yellowish brown, some- 


PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 217 

times of a green-yellow or red color. It is found 
with brown coal in various localities. 

Elaterite or elastic bitumen, of a blackish 
brown color, subtranslucent, and occurring in soft, 
flexible masses in the lead-veins of Castleton, in 
Derbyshire, in the bituminous sandstone of Wood¬ 
bury, Connecticut, etc. 

Pyropissite occurs in strata in brown coal. 

Ozocerite occurs in various shades of color, from 
pale yellow to black ; when melted it generally 
shows a dark-green color. The pale varieties are 
chiefly found in places containing much marsh gas. 
The dark-green, heavy variety is the best, while the 
black kind, or asphaltic wax, is the poorest; it con¬ 
tains resinous combinations of oxygen, and is inter¬ 
mediate between mineral oil and ozocerite. 

The odor of ozocerite is, according to its purity, 
agreeably wax-like. In consistency it is soft, pliable, 
flexible to hard ; the mass in the latter case showing 
a conchoidal fracture, but softens on kneading. 
The boiling-point lies between 133° and 165° F., 
and of the so-called “ marble wax ” even as high as 
230° F. The specific gravity is from 0.845 to 0.930. 

Ozocerite is readily soluble in oil of turpentine, 
petroleum, benzine, etc., and with difficulty in 
alcohol and ether; it burns with a bright flame, 
generally leaving no residue. Its elementary com¬ 
position is about that of petroleum, 85 per cent, of 
carbon and 15 per cent, of hydrogen. 

Native Asphalt or Bitumen is solid at the ordi¬ 
nary temperature, of a black to blackish-brown 


218 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

color and a conchoidal fracture with glossy lustre. 
Hardness 1 to 2 ; specific gravity 1 to 2. It melts 
at 90° F., and is very inflammable. It appears to 
be formed by the oxidation of the non-saturated 
hydrocarbides in petroleum. The most remarkable 
deposits are in Cuba and Trinidad. Other noted 
localities are the Dead Sea, Seyssel (France), Lim- 
mer, the Abruzzo, and Val de Travers. It occurs 
also of every degree of consistence, and in immense 
quantity, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, 
chiefly in the States of Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz and 
Tabasco, where not unfrequently it is associated 
with rock salt and “ saltpetre.” It has recently 
been discovered in Utah in widely separated places. 
It has been found associated with ozocerite and 
more extensively as melted out of sandstone. Cali¬ 
fornia includes a large area which furnishes asphalt, 
much the larger proportion being the product of the 
decomposition of petroleum, while the remainder 
occurs in veins that are evidently eruptive, the for¬ 
mer occurring in beds of greater or less extent on 
hill-sides or gulch slopes, below springs of more 
fluid bitumen. These deposits are scattered over 
the country between the bay of Monterey and San 
Diego, but are chiefly observed west and south of 
the coast ranges, between Santa Barbara and the 
Soledad pass. Asphalt occurs also in other localities 
in the United States, for instance in Connecticut, in 
thin seams and veins in eruptive rock ; in New 
York in the region of eruptive and metamorphic 
rocks, in Tennessee in the Trenton limestone, etc. 


PETROLEUM, OZOCERITE, ASPHALT, PEAT. 219 

In some American specimens sulphur has been 
found to the extent of 10.85 per cent. Asphalt is 
in great request for paving purposes; it is of in¬ 
creasing value, and deposits are eagerly sought for. 

Peat. Peat is not a mineral, but consists of the 
cumulatively resolved fibrous parts of certain mosses 
and graminacese. It gradually darkens from brown 
to black with increasing age. It occurs in beds or 
in bogs. As a fuel, it is most economically used at 
the place where it is grown. Good peat yields about 
3 to 6 per cent, of tar proper, which is comparatively 
easy to purify by the usual method. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 

Although many varieties of gems and precious 
stones are known to occur in the United States, 
systematic mining for them is carried on only at a 
few places, and the annual output is still very small 
in comparison with the prospective extent of the 
field. Not many persons are familiar with the ap¬ 
pearance of gem stones in their native state, so that 
while quartz pebbles are often mistaken for rough 
diamonds, garnets for rubies, ilmenite for black 
diamonds, etc., on the other hand it is quite prob¬ 
able that many valuable occurrences have escaped 
notice. 

Diamond. Diamonds are usually met with in 
alluvial soil, often on gold-diggings. In some 
Indian fields a diamond-bearing conglomerate oc¬ 
curs which is made up of rounded stones cemented 
together and lies under two layers, the top one con¬ 
sisting of gravel, sand and loam, the bottom one of 
thick clay and mud. In the neighborhood of Pan- 
nah, between Sonar and the Sona river, diamonds 
are found in ferriferous pebble conglomerate and 
in river alluvium. The most beautiful crystallized 
specimens are however found on the west side of the 
( 220 ) 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


221 


Nalla-Malla mountains near Banganpally, between 
Pennar and Kistnah, in a diamond-bearing layer 
between beds of primitive conglomerate. 

In Borneo, the diamond is found associated with 
magnetic iron ore, gold and platinum, in alluvial 
deposits consisting of serpentine and quartz frag¬ 
ments as well as marl. 

In Brazil, the province Minas Geraes is rich in 
diamonds, the most important occurrence being at 
Sao Joao do Barro, where they are found in an 
entirely weathered talcose slate. In other parts of 
the same country the diamond is also obtained from 
a conglomerate of white quartz, pebbles and light 
colored sand, sometimes with yellow and blue 
quartz and iron sand. In the province of Bahia 
occurs the so-called black diamond , which though 
not suitable for jewelry, may on account of its hard¬ 
ness replace the diamond for many other purposes. 

In South Africa the diamond occurs associated 
chiefly with garnet and titanic iron ore, as well as 
with quartz opal, calcareous spar, and more rarely 
with iron pyrites, bronzite, smaragdite and vaalite. 
According to St. Meunier the South African diamond¬ 
bearing sands are composed of an exceedingly large 
number of constituents, eighty different varieties of 
minerals and rocks having been found in them. 
Of minerals occur, for instance, diamond, topaz, 
garnet, bronzite, ilmenite, quartz, tremolite, asbestus, 
wallastonite, vaalite, zeolite, iron pyrites, brown iron 
ore, calcareous spar, opal, hyalite, jasper, agate, clay. 
Of rocks are found, serpentine, eklogite, pegmatite 


222 prospector's field-book and guide. 

and talcose slate. At the Kimberley mine, which 
more or less represents others in the neighborhood, 
the diamond-bearing ground forms a “pipe” or 
“ chimney ” surrounded by formations totally differ¬ 
ent from the payable rock. The encasing material 
is made up of red sandy oil on the surface, under¬ 
neath which is a layer of calcareous tufa, then yellow 
shale, then black shale, and below this, hard igneous 
rock. The diamond-bearing ground consists of 
“ yellow ground ” (really the decomposed “ blue 
ground”), which is comparatively friable; and deeper 
down the “ blue ground ” (hydrous magnesian con¬ 
glomerate), which needs blasting by dynamite. The 
“ blue ground ” is of a dark bluish to a greenish gray 
color, and has a more or less greasy feel. With it 
are mixed portions of boulders of various kinds of 
rock such as serpentine, quartzite, mica-schist, 
chlorite-schist, gneiss, granite, etc. All this “ blue 
ground ” has evidently been subjected to heat. The 
gems are in the matter which binds these rocks, not 
in the rocks themselves. 

Diamonds are also found in the Ural, various 
parts of Australia, New Zealand and in the United 
States. In the latter country diamonds have been 
fouud at a number of localities, but never enough to 
warrant any extended mining for them. Many ex¬ 
perienced geologists hold to the opinion that since so 
many associations of the diamond are present in 
North Carolina they have hopes of their being found 
there. The garnet districts of Arizona and New 
Mexico may also be looked upon as favorable for 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


223 


the occurrence of this gem. Of the localities where 
diamonds have been found in the United States may 
be mentioned : the gold diggings of Twitty’s mine 
in the itacolumite region of Rutherford Co., North 
Carolina, 1847, further in Hall Co., Georgia, 1850, 
in the gold diggings on the south slopes of the 
Alleghany mountains, in Arizona, and in Cali¬ 
fornia, together with platinum in various gold dig¬ 
gings. Further at Dysartville, McDowell Co., 
North Carolina, in Idaho, San Juan Co., Colorado, 
and Cherokee Flat and several other localities in 
Butte Co., California. 

The natural surface of the dimond is often 
unequal; its sides are lined, somewhat convex, and 
generally appear dulled, or as they are commonly 
called, rough , by the evident action of fire. The 
diamond breaks regularly into four principal cleav¬ 
ages. It does not sparkle in the rough, and the 
best test is its hardness and its becoming electric, 
when rubbed before polishing. The color of the 
diamond varies through all tones of the color-scale, 
from absolute colorless through all shades of yellow, 
red, green, blue to intense black. Some colorless 
diamonds acquire on heating a reddish shade, which 
disappears on cooling. 

The occurrence of diamonds of different colors 
affords a remarkable illustration of what has been 
said about the colors of minerals. As pure carbon, 
diamond is colorless, as are also the microscopic 
diamonds artificially produced by an electric cur¬ 
rent, but in nature the stones are of different colors, 


224 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

which are imparted to them by a very small pro¬ 
portion of foreign matter. The yellow and gray 
tints decrease the value of the diamond, but red, 
blue and green varieties, on the contrary, are so 
rare, that when diamonds are so colored their value 
is considerably greater than if perfectly colorless. 
For instance, the best blue diamond known is esti¬ 
mated at double the calculated value of a good 
colorless diamond of the same size. 

In Borneo a kind of black diamond is found 
which is very highly prized in consequence of its 
exceptional lustre and rarity. It is even harder 
than the ordinary diamond. 

In Brazil another variety of black diamond called 
“ bort ” is found in quantity. It is rough and 
without lustre, and somewhat resembles the deposit 
of gas retorts in appearance. It is used for diamond 
drills. It sometimes is found in masses weighing 
up to 2 pounds, but mostly in pieces the size of a 
hazel nut. 

The specific gravity of the pure diamond varies 
from 3.5 to 3.6 ; that of the black diamond is from 
3.012 to 3.255. 

One of the most beautiful qualities of the diamond 
is its power of refraction ; that of water is, 0.785 ; 
that of the ruby, 0.739 ; that of the rock crystal, 
0.654 ; that of the diamond, 1.396. The refraction 
of the diamond is single in the entire crystals ; when 
broken it possesses double, but imperfect refraction, 
in the thin layers. 

The value of the diamond is dependent on its 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


225 


color, its size and the finish given to it by working. 
Perfectly colorless stones bring the highest price, 
and next stones with a reddish, greenish and bluish 
shade, which, however, are quite rare. Yellowish 
diamonds are of less value, the price paid for them 
being the lower the more the yellow color plays into 
brown. 

Of the largest diamonds each has its own name 
and its own history. Of these may here be men¬ 
tioned the Koh-i-noor or mountain of light, Fig. 58 
d. It weighs 106 T V carats. The Orlof, Fig. 58, a, 
weighs 194} carats, and is as large as half a pigeon’s 
egg ; it adorns the sceptre of the Russian emperor. 
The Grand Duke of Tuscany or Florentine, Fig. 58, 
b, is one of the most beautiful diamonds. It is a 
yellow diamond and weighs 139J- carats. It belongs 
to the House of Austria. The Pitt or Regent, Fig. 
58, c, belongs to the French Treasury and, with the 
exception of the Koh-i-noor, is the most beautiful 
and most regular diamond. It weighs 136} carats. 

Sapphires and Rubies. The sapphire is the 
blue variety of corundum (see p. 184) in its purest 
crystalline state, and the ruby the red variety. 
The bright yellow variety is the Oriental topaz, dis¬ 
tinguished by its hardness from the topaz, yellow 
tourmaline and false topaz. The bright green is 
the Oriental emerald, and the bright violet the 
Oriental amethyst. These varieties readily scratch 
the emerald and amethyst. One variety exhibits a 
six-rayed star inside the prism, and is called the 
“ asterias.” The ruby is the most highly prized 
15 


220 


prospector's field-book and guide. 



form of corundum, the most precious being the 
East India ruby, which is of the deepest red, and 
some stones of a peculiarly vivid red are more 
valuable than the diamond. 

The principal locality for sapphires in the United 

Fig. 58. 


States is in the garnet districts near Helena, Mon¬ 
tana; Santa Fe, New Mexico; southern Colorado 
and Arizona. Here they occur in the sand, associ¬ 
ated with peridot, pyrope and almandine garnet. 















GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


227 


Spinel contains in the typical form, magnesia 
and alumina. It is usually found in octahedrons, 
often in twins which are therefore called spinel 
twins. Usually red and transparent; also white, 
blue, green, yellow, brown, black, the dark shades 
being usually opaque. Lustre, glassy. Fracture, 
conchoidal. Specific gravity 3.5 to 4.0. Hardness 
8 ; scratches quartz. Infusible, and thus distin¬ 
guished from garnet, which it may resemble. Its 
color is transiently altered by heat. It is distin¬ 
guished from zircon by its superior hardness and 
inferior specific gravity. Occurs in river sand, in 
igneous rocks, gneiss, limestone. When red it 
forms the spinel or balas ruby, which is distin¬ 
guished from the Oriental ruby by its inferior 
hardness. When bright green it is called chloro- 
spinel; orange, rubicelle; violet, almandine ruby; 
black, pleonast. Spinel is occasionally met with in 
gem form in the United States. 

Topaz is composed of silica, alumina and fluorine. 
It occurs in prismatic crystals, sometimes furrowed 
lengthwise, variously terminated, breaking easily 
across with smooth brilliant cleavage. Transparent 
or semi-transparent. White, yellow, greenish, blu¬ 
ish, pink. Lustre, glassy. Specific gravity, 3.5. 
Hardness, 8. Scratches quartz; is scratched by 
sapphire. Infusible, but often blistered and altered 
by heat. When smooth surfaces are rubbed on 
cloth they become strongly electric, and can attract 
small pieces of paper, but rough surfaces do not 
show this. The brilliant cleavage of topaz distin- 


228 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


guishes it from tourmaline and other minerals. 
Topaz occurs in gneiss or granite with tourmaline, 
mica, beryl; also cassiterite or tin-stone, apatite, 
fluorite. The white topaz resembles the diamond, 
but unlike the latter it can be scratched by sapphire. 
The pale blue variety is of value for cutting into 
large stones for brooches; specimens are occasion¬ 
ally found of several pounds weight. Topaz of a 
beautiful sherry color occurs in Brazil. Speci¬ 
mens of this when heated become pink, when they 
are known as burnt topaz. The yellow varieties 
are cut as gems. Although not very valuable, they 
are quite brilliant and look very well. 

Topaz has been found in Arizona, New Mexico, 
and occasionally in southern Colorado. In the 
latter state, and in Utah and Mexico, it sometimes 
occurs in fine, clear crystals in volcanic rocks. A 
notable locality, especially for very large crystals, 
is at Stoneham, Maine, and another at Trumbull, 
Connecticut. 

Beryl or Emerald is composed of silica, alumina 
and beryllium or glucinum. It is almost always 
found in distinct crystals, and usually in forms easy 
to recognize. The crystals are hexagonal prisms, 
usually green, transparent or opaque. Lustre, 
glassy ; fracture uneven ; specific gravity, 2.7 ; hard¬ 
ness, 7 to 8 ; scratches quartz. Infusible, or nearly 
so, but becomes clouded by heating. Occurs in 
granite rocks with feldspar and quartz. Valuable 
for jewelry when transparent and rich grass green 
(emerald), or sea-green (aquamarine). Emerald has 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


229 


been found in North Carolina and aquamarine at a 
number of localities in the United States. 

Phenacite is a silicate of beryllium or glucinum. 
Its hardness is about the same as topaz and its 
specific gravity 3.4 to 3.6. It occurs in glassy 
rhombohedral crystals, and its hardness, beautiful 
transparency and color make it valuable for cutting 
as a gem, since it is capable of extreme polish. 
Phenacite has been found at Pike’s Peak, Colorado, 
in crystals of sufficient size and quality to furnish 
fair gems. 

Zircon is composed of silica and zirconia. It is 
found in square prisms terminated by pyramids, 
and in octahedrons, but often also in pebbles and 
grains. Transparent or opaque. Wine or brown¬ 
ish red, gray, yellow, white. Lustre, glassy; frac¬ 
ture, usually irregular, but in one direction it can 
be split so as to exhibit a smooth even cleavage 
face having an adamantine lustre like the diamond. 
Specific gravity 4.0 to 5.0 ; hardness 7.5; scratches 
quartz, is scratched hy topaz. Infusible; the red 
varieties, when heated before the blowpipe, emit a 
fluid phosphorescent light, and become permanently 
colorless. Zircon occurs in syenite, granite, basalt. 
In some regions it occurs in the rock so abundantly 
that when the rock has been worn down by the 
weather, it is left unaltered in considerable quanti¬ 
ties. It may then be obtained by washing the 
gravel in the manner of the gold miner. Clear 
crystals are used in jewelry, in jeweling watches, 
and imitation of diamond. It may be distinguished 


230 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

from the latter by its inferior hardness, and in not 
becoming so readily electric by friction. Fine 
crystals are obtained in New York and Canada; and 
good specimens also come from North Carolina and 
Colorado. 

Garnet is composed of silica, alumina, lime, 
iron, magnesia, manganese. It is found almost 
always in distinct crystals, and as these crystals are 
commonly isolated and scattered through the rock, 
it is not difficult to recognize them. The crystals 
are usually twelve-sided, having the form of a 
rhombic dodecahedron. They are transparent or 
opaque ; generally red ; also brown, green, yellow, 
black, white. Lustre, glassy or resinous, fracture 
conchoidal or uneven ; specific gravity 3.5 to 4.3 ; 
hardness, 6.5 to 7.5 ; cannot be scratched with a 
knife. Fusible with more or less difficulty. Red 
varieties impart a green color to borax bead owing 
to presence of chromium. Garnet usually occurs in 
cr 3 7 stals scattered through granite, gneiss or mica 
schist, also in crystalline limestone; with serpen¬ 
tine or chromite ; also in some volcanic rocks. Fine 
colored transparent varieties (carbuncle, cinnamon 
stone, almandine) are used in jewelry. The garnets 
found in New Mexico and Southern Colorado, and 
there called “ rubies,” are as fine as those from any 
other locality, the blood-red being the most desirable. 
Very fine crystals of cinnamon stone, cinnamon 
garnet or essonite have been found in New Hamp¬ 
shire, Maine, and at many other points in the 
United States. 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


231 


Tourmaline is composed of silica, alumina, mag¬ 
nesia, boracic acid, fluorine, oxides of iron (lime 
and alkalies). It is found in prisms with three, six, 
nine or more sides, furrowed lengthwise, terminat¬ 
ing in low pyramids. Commonly black and opaque, 
rarety transparent, and of a rich red, yellow, or 
green color. Lustre glassy ; fracture uneven ; spe¬ 
cific gravity 3.1 ; hardness 7 to 8; cannot be 
scratched with a knife. When the smooth side of 
a prism is rubbed on cloth it becomes electric and 
can attract a small piece of paper. Tourmaline 
occurs in granite and slate. Only the fine colored 
transparent varieties, which are used as gems and 
for optical purposes, are of value. The principal 
source of tourmaline in the United States is the 
locality Mount Mica, at Paris, Maine. 

Epidote is a silicate of alumina, iron and lime, 
but varies rather widely in composition, especially 
as regards the relative amounts of alumina and 
iron. It is usually found in prismatic crystals, 
often very slender and terminated at one end only ; 
they belong to the monoclinic system. . Lustre, 
vitreous ; color, commonly green, although there are 
black and pink varieties. Epidote is found in 
many localities in the United States and in very 
large crystals ranging from brown to green in color, 
but as a rule the crystals are only translucent or 
semi-opaque, though some stones of considerable 
value and great beauty have been found in Rabun 
county, Georgia. 

Opal is composed of silica and water. It is never 


232 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

found in crystals but only in massive and amorphous 
form. Fracture, conchoidal; specific gravity 2.2 ; 
hardness, 6 ; can be scratched by quartz and thus 
distinguished from it. It is infusible and generally 
milk-white. The most beautiful variety of opal is 
that called 'precious opal, which exhibits a beautiful 
play of colors and is a valuable gem. One kind of 
precious opal with a bright red flash of light is 
called the fire opal, and another kind is the harle¬ 
quin opal. Common opal does not exhibit this play 
of colors, and it varies widely in color and appear¬ 
ance. Milk opal, as one variety is called, has a pure 
white color and milky opalescence, while resin opal 
or wax opal has a waxy lustre and yellow color. 
Jasper opal is intermediate between jasper and opal; 
wood opal is petrified wood in which the mineral 
material is opal instead of quartz. Opal is com¬ 
monly met with in seams of certain volcanic rocks; 
sometimes it occurs in limestone and also in metal¬ 
lic veins. Precious opal is rare in the United 
States, though some of high value is said to have 
been found in Creek Co., near John Davy’s River, 
Oregon. 

Turquois is a hydrated phosphate of aluminium, 
containing also a little copper phosphate which is 
probably the source of the color, which in the most 
precious variety is robin’s-egg blue, and bluish- 
green in less highly prized varieties. It occurs only 
in compact massive forms, filling seams and cavi¬ 
ties in a volcanic rock. Specific gravity 3.127. 
Turquois has been found in the Hoi} Cross mining 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


233 


region thirty miles from Leadville, Colorado, and of 
late years a number of mines have been opened in 
New Mexico. It occurs also in Arizona and at a 
point in Southern Nevada. At the latter place it is 
found in veins of small grains in a hard shaly sand¬ 
stone. The color of this turquois is a rich blue, al¬ 
most equal to the finest Persian, and the grains are 
so small that the sandstone is cut with the turquois 
in it, making a rich mottled stone for jewelry. 

Agate is found in almost every part of the world, 
and the difference of the constituent parts makes 
the specific gravity vary from 2.58 to 2.69. The 
agate, properly so called, is naturally translucent, 
less transparent than crystalline quartz, but yet 
less opaque than jasper. It is too hard to be even 
scratched by rock crystal. It takes a very good 
polish. It is never found in regular forms, but al¬ 
ways either in nodules, in stalactites, or in irregular 
masses. Eye agates consist of those parts of the 
stone in which the cutting discovers circular bands 
of very small diameter arranged with regularity 
round one circular spot. These circles are fre¬ 
quently so perfect that they appear to be traced by 
the compass. The first round is white, the second, 
black, green, red, blue or yellow ; the most rare are 
those whose circles are at equal distance from the 
centre. Moss agate contains brown-black, mosslike 
or dendritic forms distributed rather thickly through 
the mass. These forms consist of some metallic 
oxide (as of manganese). Of all the American 
stones used in jewelry there is no other of which so 


234 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

much is sold as the moss agate. The principal 
sources of supply are Utah, Colorado, Montana and 
Wyoming. 

Chalcedony is a semi-transparent variety of 
quartz, of a waxy lustre and varying in color from 
white to gray, blue, brown and other shades. In 
some instances it resembles icicles, and in others the 
frosty surface of a liquid. 

Chrysoprase is of a beautiful apple-green color, 
due to oxide of nickel. In a warm, dry place the 
color of chrysoprase is destroyed, but it can he again 
restored by keeping it damp. 

Carnelian and Sard have red or brownish tints 
and are varieties of chalcedony. 

Jasper is quartz rendered opaque by clay ; iron 
and other impurities. It is of a red, yellow or 
green color. Sometimes the colors are arranged in 
ribands, or in other fantastic forms. It is used for 
ornamental work. 

Bloodstone or Heliotrope is green jasper, with 
splashes of red resembling blood spots. 

Rock crystal is pure, transparent, colorless 
quartz, and is found at a great many localities in 
the United States. In Herkimer County, at Lake 
George, and throughout the adjacent regions in 
New York state, the calciferous sandstone contains 
single crystals, and at times cavities are found filled 
with doubly terminated crystals, often of remarkable 
perfection and brilliancy. These are collected, cut, 
and, often uncut, are mounted in jewelry and sold 
under the name of “ Lake George diamonds.” 


GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


235 


Amethyst is a transparent variety of quartz of a 
rich violet or purple color. It is found at many 
localities in the United States, but not in as fine or 
large specimens as in Brazil or Siberia. 

Onyx or Sardonyx is a semi-transparent variety 
of quartz made up of regular layers, one above the 
other, of different colors, often white and red. It is 
much used for cameos. 

Orthoclase, Oligoclase and Labradorite. 
Some varieties of orthoclase and oligoclase contain 
minute flakes of other material, are iridescent and 
exhibit a beautiful play of colors. They are called 
sunstone and moonstone, and are occasionally set in 
brooches, but are too soft for rings. They are 
chiefly obtained from India, America and Ceylon. 

Iridescent labradorite is chiefly obtained from the 
coast of Labrador, and is found in blocks of large 
size and varying colors—violet, blue, etc. It is 
used for decorating artistic furniture, and is some¬ 
times cut for pins, etc. 

A beautiful variety of orthoclase known as Ama¬ 
zon stone occurs in large green crystals in Siberia 
and the United States. 

Many other gem stones are known to occur in the 
United States, and the following list compiled by 
Mr. George F. Kunz * is here given : 


Mineral Resources of the United States, Washington, 1883. 


236 


prospector's field-book and guide. 


List of gem stones known to occur in the United States. 
Jade. 

Jasper (quartz). 


Achro’ite (tourmaline). 
Agate (quartz). 

Agatized wood (quartz). 
Almandine (garnet). 
Amazon stone (microlene). 
Amber. 

Amethyst (quartz). 
Aquamarine (beryl). 
Asteria. 

Beryl. 

Bloodstone. 

Bowenite (serpentine). 
Cairngorm (quartz). 
Catlinite. 

Chalcedony (quartz). 
Chiastolite. 

Chlorastrolite. 

Chondroite. 

Chrysolite. 

Danburite. 

Diamond. 

Diopside (pyroxene). 
Elseolite (nephelite). 
Emerald (beryl). 

Epidote. 

Essonite (garnet). 

FBclie d’amour (quartz). 
Fluorite. 

Fossil coral. 

Garnet. 

Grossularite garnet. 
Heliotrope. 

Hematite. 

Hiddenite (spodumene). 
Hornblende in quartz. 
Idocrase. 

Indicolite (tourmaline). 
Iolite. 

Isopyre. 


Jet (mineral coal). 

Labradorite. 

Labrador spar (labradorite). 
Lake George diamonds (quartz) 
Lithia emeralds (spodumene). 
Made. 

Malachite. 

Moonstone (feldspar group). 
Moss agate (quartz). 

Novaculite (quartz). 

Obsidian. 

Olivine (chrysolite). 

Opalized wood (opal). 

Peridot (chrysolite). 

Phenakite. 

Prehnite. 

Pyrope (garnet). 

Quartz. 

Bhodonite. 

Bock crystal (quartz). 

Bose quartz (quartz). 

Buby (corundum). 

Bubellite (tourmaline). 

Butile. 

Butile in quartz (quartz). 
Sagenite (quartz). 

Sapphire (corundum). 

Silicified wood (quartz). 

Smoky quartz (quartz). 

Smoky topaz (quartz). 

Spinel. 

Spodumene. 

Sunstohe (feldspar). 

Thetis hair stone (quartz). 
Tliomsonite. 

Tourmaline. 

Topaz. 



GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


237 


Turquois. 

Venus hair stone (quartz). 
Willemite. 

Williamsite (serpentine). 
Wood agate (quartz). 


Wood jasper (quartz). 
Wood opal (opal). 
Zircon. 

Zonochlorite (prehnite) 


List of species and varieties found in the United States, but not met with 

in gem form. 


Andalusite. 

Axinite. 

Cassiterite. 

Chrysoberyl. 

Cyanite. 


Ilvaite. 

Opal. 

Prase (quartz) 

Sphene. 

Titanite. 


List of species and varieties not yet identified in any form in the United 

States. 


Alexandrite. 

Cat’s-eye chrysoberyl. 
Cat’s-eye quartz. 
Chrysoberyl cat’s eye. 
Chrysoprase. 


Demantoid. 
Euclase. 
Lapislazulite. 
Ouvarovite. 
Quartz cat’s-eye. 


List of gem stones occurring only in the United States. 


Bowenite. 

Chlorastrolite. 

Chondrodite. 

Hiddenite. 

Litliia emerald. 

Novaculite. 


Rutile. 

Thetis hair stone. 

Thompsonite. 

Willemite. 

Williamsite. 

Zonochlorite. 





Table of Characteristics of Gems. 


238 


PROSPECTOR S FIELD-BOOK AND GUIDE. 


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GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. 


239 


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Table of Characteristics of Gems. — Concluded. 


240 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


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APPENDIX. 


WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

British weights and measures, and those used in 
our country, are based upon the weight of a cubic 
inch of distilled water at 62° Fah., and 30 inches 
height of the barometer, the maximum density. 
This was decided by Parliament, in the reign of 
George IV., to be 252.458 grains. Recent experi¬ 
ments, however, show that a cubic inch of water at 
the temperature of maximum density is 252.286 
standard grains. On this account scientists are 
urging the readjustment of the gallon, bushel, etc., 
but at present the tables below are correct. See 
also No. 8. 

Weights and measures of various nations :— 

No. 1 .— English Length. 

3 barleycorns = 1 inch. 

12 inches — 1 foot. 

3 feet — 1 yard. 

5J yards. = 1 rod, pole, or perch (16£ feet). 

4 poles or 100 links = 1 chain (22 yards or 66 feet). 

10 chains = 1 furlong 220 (yards or 660 feet). 

8 furlongs = 1 mile (1760 yards, or 5280 feet). 

A span = 9 inches; a fathom = 6 feet; a league = 3 miles; 
a geographical mile = 6082.66 feet, same as nautical knot, 60 being 
a degree, i. e., 69.121 miles. 

16 (241) 



242 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Particular Measures of Length. 


A point, of an inch. 
A line, xx of an inch. 
A palm, 3 inches. 

A hand, 4 inches. 

A link, 7.92 inches. 


A pace, military, 2 feet, 6 inches. 
A pace, geometrical, 5 feet. 

A cable’s length, 120 fathoms. 

A degree (average), 69f miles. 


No. 2.—Surface Measure. 

144 square inches = 1 square foot. 


9 square feet = 1 

SO} square yards — 1 

16 poles (square) = 1 

40 poles = 1 

10 chains or 4 roods = 1 

640 acres = 1 


No. 3.—Surface 

9 square feet 
272£ “ “ 

4,356 “ “ 

10,890 “ “ 

43,560 “ “ 

27,878,400 “ “ 


square yard. 

pole, rod, or perch (square), 
chain (sq.) or 484 sq. yds. 
rood (sq.) or 1210 sq. yds. 
acre (4840 sq. yds.), 
sq. mile. 

Measure in Feet. 

— 1 square yard. 

= 1 pole, rod, or perch. 

= 1 square chain. 

= 1 square rood. 

= 1 acre. 

= 1 square mile. 


No. 4.—Solid Measure. 

1728 cubic inches = 1 cubic foot. 

27 cubic feet — 1 cubic yard. 

16£ feet long, 1 foot high, and H feet thick = 1 perch stone = 
24f cubic feet. 

I 

No. 5.—Weight. 

Troy Weight. Platinum, gold, silver, and some 
precious stones are weighed by Troy weight, dia¬ 
monds by carats of 4 grains each. 


24 grains 
20 pennyweights 
12 ounces 


1 pennyweight. 

1 ounce (480 grains). 

1 pound (5760 grains). 


APPENDIX. 


243 


No. 6.—Avoirdupois Weight. 


16 drams — 

16 ounces = 

14 pounds =• 

2 stones = 

4 quarters = 

20 hundred-weight = 


1 ounce (437^ grains). 

1 pound (7000 grains). 

1 stone. 

1 quarter. 

1 hundred-weight (112 pounds). 
1 ton (long ton) (2240 pounds). 


No. 7.—Weights by Specific Gravity. 

Frequently the weight of masses is required 
where it is very inconvenient, or, perhaps, impossi¬ 
ble to use scales. The following method may be 
sufficiently accurate:— 

Find the average specific gravity of the mass 
either by actual weight of a piece or by the follow¬ 
ing table. Then measure the cubic contents of the 
mass as nearly as possible and multiply by the 
weight of a cubic foot. Thus, a mass of limestone 
(say good marble) measures 40 cubic feet. The 
specific gravity of good marble is 2.6, that is, it is 
2.6 as heavy as a cubic foot of water, which weighs 
62.5 pounds. Therefore 62.5 

2.6 


3750 

1250 


162.50 

A cubic foot of good marble weighs 162.5 pounds, and 

the 40 cubic feet will weigh 162.5 

40 


6500.0 





244 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

or about 3J tons. Of course all rock masses have 
not plane sides, and the irregularity requires some 
calculation and various allowances which the pros¬ 
pector must make, and can easily do with a little 
consideration. 

Where greater accuracy of specific gravity and of 
bulk is desired for small masses, and no scales are 
at hand, the following plan may be very satisfac¬ 
torily adopted. Fill a tub or hogshead or large box 
with rain water, after having inserted a tube or 
piece of tin pipe into the upper edge. Pour in more 
water until it will hold no more without running 
out of the spout. Introduce the mass of rock and 
catch all the water which runs out of the pipe. Now 
measure the overflow ; this represents the exact cubic 
measure of the rock introduced. 


1 gallon contains.231 cubic inches. 

1 quart “ . 57.75 or 57f cubic inches. 

1 pint “ . 28.87 or 28| “ “ 

1 gill “ .7.21 or 7\ “ 

See Appendix, No. 8. 


Suppose the .overflow was 8 gallons, 1 quart, 4J- 
gills, and that the specific gravity of the rock or ore 
was 6.5 by the table below. Then the mass will 
cause an overflow of 1936.99 cubic inches, and this 
is 208.99 more than one cubic foot, or about 1.120 
of a cubic foot for the mass. 

Since 6.5 was the specific gravity of the ore, 
6.5x62.5 pounds = 406.25, which would be the 
weight of a cubic foot of the ore, and 406.25 x 1.120 






APPENDIX. 


245 


= 455 pounds, the exact weight of that mass you 
introduced into the water. 

Specific Gravity, how to Find. Where the 
mass is of very nearly the same density in all parts, 
the specific gravity ma}^ be taken of a small part as 
follows : 

Suspend the scales so that they will be steady, 
weigh about an ounce or pound of the ore accu¬ 
rately, then tie the ore by a horse-hair or a fine silk 
thread to the hook that holds one of the scales, and 
let it (the ore) hang below the scale pan, and then 
weigh the ore entirely submerged in water. The 
thread or hair may be attached to the centre of the 
scale pan and weighed in that way, but the pan in 
either case must remain on the scales just as before. 
Then the weight in air divided by the weight in air 
minus the weight in water, is the specific gravity; 
e. g., a piece of ore weighs in air 100 grains, in 
water 80 grains, then 100 divided by (100—80 = 
20) == 5, the specific gravity of that piece of ore. 
You may now proceed as in the case of the marble 
block. 


No. 8.—Special Weights, etc. 

One cubic foot of water is equal to 7.475 U. S. 
gals, of 231 cubic inches each, or 7J gallons nearly ; 
or 6.2321 Imperial gals, of 277J cubic inches each. 
This, with what follows, is important in the con¬ 
struction of tanks, pools, etc., where contents, weight, 
and pressure are to be considered. 

It should be remembered that, although the Eng- 


246 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


lisli Imperial gallon is 277J cubic inches = 10 lbs. 
avoir, of distilled water at 62° Fah., Bar. 30 inches, 
and equal to 277.274 cubic inches, the United States 
standard gallon is 231 inches,* or 58372.1754 grains, 
or 8.3389 lbs. of distilled water maximum density. 
This is almost exactly = to a cylinder 7 inches 
diameter, 6 inches high. The beer gallon = 282 
inches. 

One gallon = 8.3389 lbs.; one quart = 2.847 lbs.; 
one pint = 1.423 lbs.; one gill =.355 lbs.; U. S. 
standard measure. One cubic foot of water = 
62.3210 lbs., British weight; recent and correct 
62.278. 


No. 9. —French Measures—Length. 


Millimetre ( Tfl V<y °f a metre) = 
Centimetre (y^ “ “ ) = 
Decimetre ( T V “ “ ) = 

Metre (the unit of length) = 
Decametre (10 metres) — 
Hectometre (100 metres) — 
Kilometre (1000 metres) — 
Myriametre (10,000 metres) — 


.03937 inch. 

.3937 “ 

3.937 

39.3708 “ or 3.2809 ft. 

32.809 ft. or 10.9363 yds. 
109.3633 yards. 

1093.63 yds. or .6238 mile. 
6.2138 miles. 


Surface. 

Centiare ( l ^ of an are or sq. metre = 
Are (unit of surface) * = 

Decare (10 ares) = 

Hectare (100 ares) = 


1.1960 sq. yds. 
j 119.6033 sq. yards or 
\ . 0247 acre. 
j 1196.033 sq. yds. or 
\ .2474 acre, 

r 11960.33 sq. yds. or 
1 2.4736 acres. 


Solid Measure. 

Decistere ( T ^ of a stere) — 3.5317 cubic feet. 

Stere (cubic metre) = 35.3166 “ “ 

Decastere (10 steres) = 353.1658 “ “ 


APPENDIX. 


247 


Weight. 


v/i n 


Milligramme ( rTJ Vff 
Centigramme ( T ^ 
Decigramme (^ 

Gramme (unit of weight) 
Decagramme (10 grammes' 


) = .1544 “ 

= 1.544 grains. 
= 15.44 “ 

= 154.4 “ 


Hectogramme (100 “ ' ) 


Kilogramme (1000 “ ) 

Myriagramme (10,000 grammes) 


f 3.2167 ozs. 

= 1.544 grains. Tr0 ? or 
| 3.5291 ozs. 

t Avoir. 

= 32| ozs. or 2.2057 pounds. 
= 22.057 pounds. 


No. 10. —Specific Gravity of Metals, 
Ores, Rocks, etc. 

Platinum.16-21 


Gold. 

Mercury .... 

Lead. 

Silver. 

Copper. 

Iron when pure . 
Iron, cast, average 


16-19.5 

13.5 

11.35-11.5 
10 . 1 - 11.1 
8.5-8.9 
7.78 

6.7 ; foundry 6.9 to 7 


Ores : associated with gold and silver. 


(Gold) Iron pyrites.4.8-5.2 

Copper pyrites.4.0-4.3 

(Silver) Galena. .... 7.2-7.7 

Glance (silver).7.2-7.4 

Ruby silver (dark) .5.7-5.9 

“ “ (light).5.5-5.6 

Brittle silver (sulphide).5.2-6.3 

Horn silver.5.5-5.6 


Other Ores. 


Zinc blende. 

Mercury (Cinnabar). 

Tin—tinstone, cassiterite . . . 


. . . 3.7-4.2 
. . . 8-8.99 
. . . 6.4-7.6 




















248 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Tin pyrites.4.3-4.5 

Copper—Red or ruby copper.5.7-6.15 

Gray.5.5-5.8 

Black oxide.5.2-6.3 

Pyrites.4.1-4.3 

Carbonate (Malachite).3.5-4.1 

Lead—sulphide (Galena) . *.7.2-7.7 

Carbonate (white lead).6.4-6.6 

Zinc—Blende.3.7-4.2 

Calamine.4.0-4.5 

Iron—Hematite (red).4.5-5.3 

Magnetic.4.9-5.9 

Brown hematite.3.6-4.0 

Spathic (carbonate).3.7-3.9 

Pyrites (mundic).4.8-5.2 

Antimony—gray sulphide.4.5-4.7 

Nickel—Kupfer nickel.7.3-7.5 

Cobalt—Tin-white.6.5-7.2 

Glance. 6.0 

Pyrites.4.8-5 

Bloom.2.91-2.95 

Earthy.3.15-3.29 

Manganese—Black oxide.4.7-5.0 

Wad, Bog manganese.2.0-4.6 

Bismuth—Sulphide.6.4-6.6 

Oxide. 4.3 


Minerals of Common Occurrence. 

2.5-2.8 
3.0-3.3 

2.5- 2.8 

4.3- 4.8 

2.4- 2.7 

2 . 6 - 2.9 

2.7- 30 

2.7- 3.0 

2.6- 3.1 
2.3-2.7 

2 . 6 - 2.8 


Quartz . . . 
Fluorspar . . 
Calc spar. . . 
Barytes . . . 
Granite \ 
Gneiss J 
Mica slate . . 
Syenite . . . 
Greenstone trap 
Basalt .... 
Porphyry 
Talcose slate . 







































APPENDIX. 


249 


Clay slate. 2.5-2.8 

Chloritic slate..2.7-2.8 

Serpentine. 2.5-2.7 

Limestone and Dolomite.2.5-2.9 

Sandstones.1.9-2.7 

Shale.2.8 


Other minerals are mentioned in the text with their specific 
gravities. 


No. 11. —A Ton Weight of the Following will 
Average in Cubic Feet : 


Earth 21 cubic feet. 

Clay 18 “ “ 

Chalk 14 “ “ 

Coarse gravel 19 “ “ 


Pit sand 22 cubic feet. 
River sand 19 “ “ 

Marl 18 “ “ 

Shingle 23 “ “ 


Power for Mills. 

As the Pelton wheel seems to find the most fre¬ 
quent application in California, it may be conveni¬ 
ent to have the following rule, applicable to this 
wheel: 

When the head of water is known in feet, multi¬ 
ply it by 0.0024147, and the product is the horse¬ 
power obtainable from one miner’s inch of water. 

The power necessary for different mill parts is: 


For each 850 lbs. stamp, dropping 6 inches 95 times per 


minute.1.33 H. P. 

For each 750 lbs. stamp, dropping 6 inches 95 times per 

minute.1.18 “ 

For each 650 lbs. stamp, dropping 6 inches 95 times per 

minute.100 “ 

For an 8-inch by 10-inch Blake pattern rock breaker . 9.00 H. P. 

For a Frue or Triumph vanner with 220 revolutions per 

minute. 0.50 “ 


For a 4 feet clean-up pan, making 30 revolutions per 
minute. 













250 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


For an amalgamating barrel, making 30 revolutions per 

minute.2.50 “ 

For a mechanical batea, making 30 revolutions per 
minute.1.00 


Boring. 

Rock is bored with jumpers of 10 to 18 lbs., used 
alone or with boring bars and hammer. The 
former are more effective, but can only be used 
perpendicularly, or nearly so, and with rock of 
moderate hardness; they require more skill. 

18 lb. hammers are used for 3 inch boring bars. 

16 1b. “ “ “ inch boring bars. 

141b. “ “ “ 2 and If inch boring bars. 

5 to 7 lb. “ “ “ 1 inch boring bars. 

The boring bars may be made of lj-inch bar 
iron of various lengths, with steel bits up to 3 
inches. A bit should bore from 18 to 24 feet with 
each steeling, and requires to be sharpened once for 
every foot bored. 


Diamond Drill. 

This drill is applicable to sinking a bore-hole for 
prospecting for minerals or water, shafts, etc., or 
blasting under water. 

It consists of a circular row of “ carbonados,” a 
species of diamond, set in a circular steel ring. 
This is attached to a hollow steel tube, which is 
kept rotating at about 250 revolutions per minute, 
pressed forward by a force varying from 400 to 800 
lbs., according to the nature of the rock. Water is 




APPENDIX. 


251 


supplied through the tube, which washes out the 
debris and cools the diamonds. 

Granite and the hardest limestones are penetrated 
at the rate of 2 to 3 inches per minute, sandstones 
4 inches, quartz 1 inch. 

The diamond drill is not effective in soft strata, 
such as clay, sand and alluvial deposits. 

The Chemical Elements, their Symbols, Equiva¬ 
lents and Specific Gravities. 


Name. 


Aluminium. 

Antimony. 

Arsenic. 

Barium. 

Bismuth. 

Boron . 

Bromine. 

Cadmium. 

Caesium. 

Calcium. 

Carbon . 

Cerium. 

Chlorine. 

Chromium. 

Cobalt . 

Columbium. 

Copper. 

Didymium. 

Erbium. 

Fluorine. 

Gallium . 

Glucinum. 

Gold (Aurum). 

Hydrogen. 

Indium. 

Iodine. 

Iridium. 

Iron (Ferrum) . . 

Lanthanum. 

Lead (Plumbum). 


Symbol. 

Atomic 

Weight. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Al. 

27.5 

2-56 

Sb. 

122.0 

6.70 

As. 

75.0 

5.70 

Ba. 

137.0 

4.00 

Bi. 

210.0 

9.7 

B. 

11.0 

2.63 

Br. 

80.0 

5.54 

Cd. 

112.0 

8.60 

Cs. 

133.0 

1.88 

Ca. 

40.0 

1.58 

C. 

12.0 

3.50 

Ce. 

92.0 

6.68 

Cl. 

35.5 

2.45 

Cr. 

52.5 

6.81 

Co. 

58.8 

7.7 

Cb. 

184.8 • 

6.00 

Cu. 

63.5 

8.96 

Di. 

96.0 

6.54 

E. 

112.6 

— 

E. 

19.0 

1.32 

Ga. 

69.9 

5.9 

Gl. 

9.5 

2.1 

Au. 

196.7 

19.3 

H. 

1.0 

0.069 

In. 

113.4 

7.4 

I. 

127.0 

4.94 

Ir. 

198.0 

21.15 

Fe. 

56.0 

7.79 

La. 

90.2 

11.37 

Pb. 

207.0 

11.44 









































252 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


The Chemical Elements, their Symbols, Equiva¬ 
lents and Specific Gravities. 


Name. 


Lithium. 

Magnesium. 

Manganese. 

Mercury (Hydrargyrum) . 

Molybdenum. 

Nickel. 

Niobium. 

Nitrogen. 

Osmium. 

Oxvgen . 

Palladium. 

Phosphorus . 

Platinum . . . 

Potassium (Kalium) . . . 

Rhodium. 

Rubidum. 

Ruthenium. 

Selenium. 

Silicon . . 

Silver (Argentum) . . . . 
Sodium (Natrium) . . . . 

Strontium . 

Sulphur. 

Tantalium. 

Tellurium. 

Thallium. 

Thorinum . 

Tin (Stannu-m). 

Titanium. 

Tungsten (Wolfram) . . . 

Uranium. 

Vanadium. 

Yttrium. 

Zinc. 

Zirconium .. . 


Symbol. 

Atomic 

Weight. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Li. 

7.0 

0.59 

Mg. 

24.0 

1.75 

Mn. 

55.0 

8.01 

Hg. 

200.0 

13.59 

Mb. 

96.0 

! 8.60 

Ni. 

58.8 

8.60 

Nb. 

| 94.0 

6.27 

N. 

14.0 

1 0.972 

Os. 

1 199.0 

21.40 

0 . 

| 16.0 i 

1.105 

Pd. 

106.5 

11.60 

P. 

31.0 

1.83 

Pt. 

197.4 

21.53 

K. 

39.0 

0.865 

Ro. 

104.3 

12.1 

Rb. 

85.4 

1.52 

Ru. 

104.4 

11 4 

Se. 

79.5 

4.78 

Si. 

28.0 

2.49 

Ag. 

108.0 

10.5 

Na. 

23.0 

u.972 

Sr. 

87.6 

2.54 


32.0 

2 05 

Ta. 

182.0 j 

10.78 

Te. 

129.0 

6.02 

Tl. 

204-0 

11.91 

Th. 

115.7 

7.8 

Sn. 

118.0 

7.28 

Ti. 

5' .0 

4.3 

W. 

184.0 

17.6 

• U. 

120.0 

18.4 

V. 

51.3 

5.50 

Y. 

61.7 

_ 

Zn. 

65.0 

7.14 

Zr. 

89.5 

4.15 


The figures indicating the proportions by weight 
in which the elements unite with one another are 
called the combining or atomic weights, because they 











































APPENDIX. 


253 


represent the relative weights of the atoms of the 
different elements. Since hydrogen is the lightest 
element, it is taken as the standard, and its combin¬ 
ing or atomic weight = 1. 

To find the proportional parts by weight of the ele¬ 
ments of any substance whose chemical formula is 
known: 

Rule. —Multiply together the equivalent and the 
exponent of each element of the compound; the 
product will be the proportion by weight of that ele¬ 
ment in the substance. 

Example. —Find the proportional weights of the 
elements of alcohol, C 2 H 6 0 : 

Carbon C 2 — equivalent 12 x exponent 2 = 24 
Hydrogen H 6 = “ 1 X “ 9—6 

Oxygen O = “ 16 X “ 1 = 16 

Of every 46 lbs. of alcohol, 6 lbs. will be H ; 16 0; 
24 C. 

To find the proportions by volume , divide by the 
specific gravity. 


Common Names of Chemical Substances. 


Common Names. 
Aqua fortis. 

Aqua regia. 

Blue vitriol. 

Cream of tartar. 
Calomel. 

Chalk. 

Caustic potash. 
Chloroform. 

Common salt. 


Chemical Names. 
Nitric acid. 

Nitro-hydrochloric acid. 
Sulphate of copper. 
Bi-tartrate of potassium. 
Chloride of mercury. 
Carbonate of calcium. 
Hydrate of potassium. 
Chloride of formyl. 
Chloride of sodium. 


254 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Common Names. 
Copperas or green vitriol. 
Corrosive sublimate. 

Dry alum. 

Epsom salts. 

Ethiops mineral. 

Galena. 

Glauber’s salt. 

Glucose. 

Iron pyrites. 

Jeweler’s putty. 

King’s yellow. 

Laughing gas. 

Lime. 

Lunar caustic. 

Mosaic gold. 

Muriate of lime. 

Muriatic acid. 

Nitre or saltpetre. 

Oil of vitriol. 

Potash. 

Realgar. 

Red lead. 

Rust of iron. 

Sal ammoniac. 

Salt of tartar. 

Slaked lime. 

Soda. 

Spirits of hartshorn. 
Spirits of salt. 

Stucco or plaster of Pari-s. 
Sugar of lead. 

Verdigris. 

Vermilion. 

Vinegar. 

Volatile alkali. 

Water. 

White precipitate. 

White vitriol. 


Chemical Names. 
Sulphate of iron. 

Bichloride of mercury. 
Sulphate of aluminium and 
potassium. 

Sulphate of magnesium. 

Black sulphide of mercury. 
Sulphide of lead. 

Sulphate of sodium. 

Grape sugar. 

Bisulphide of iron. 

Oxide of tin. 

Sulphide of arsenic. 

Protoxide of nitrogen. 

Oxide of calcium. 

Nitrate of silver. 

Bisulphide of tin. 

Chloride of calcium. 
Hydrochloric acid. 

Nitrate of potash. 

Sulphuric acid. 

Oxide of potassium. 

Sulphide of arsenic. 

Oxide of lead. 

Oxide of iron. 

Chloride of ammonia. 
Carbonate of potassium. 
Hydrate of calcium. 

Oxide of sodium. 

Ammonia. 

Hydrochloric acid. 

Sulphate of lime. 

Acetate of lead. 

Basic acetate of copper. 
Sulphide of mercury. 

Acetic acid (diluted). 
Ammonia. 

Oxide of hydrogen. 
Ammoniated mercury. 
Sulphate of zinc. 


APPENDIX. 


255 


PROSPECTORS’ POINTERS. 

OLD-TIMER INSTRUCTS THE TENDERROOT PROSPECTOR 
ON LOCATING. 

Take a soft pine board, and a hard lead pencil, 
and the writing will sometimes outlast your claim. 
I have seen such notices that have withstood the 
storms of seven or eight years and still remain 
legible. There is a great variety of ways to write 
a notice; and nearly every prospector has his own 
way. But the briefest and most concise way is as 
good as any, and the easiest. Now, I’ll write you 
one for the Catharine this way : 

Catharine Lode. 

Notice is hereby given that I, the undersigned 
citizen of the United States, having complied with 
Chapter 36, Title 32, Revised Statutes of the United 
States, and the local regulations of Barker district, 
claim by right of discovery, 1500 feet in length, and 
600 feet in width, along the mineral-bearing vein, 
to be known as the Catharine (or any other name). 

Beginning at centre of discovery shaft and run¬ 
ning : “ How far do you run northerly ? ” 

“ Seven hundred feet northeast.” 

“ Seven hundred feet in a northerly direction and 
800 feet in a southerly direction.” 

“Always say northerly, southerly, easterly, and 
westerly in writing notices. Don’t give it any spe¬ 
cific direction. When you say ‘ northerly,” it gives 


256 prospector’s field-book and guide. 

you a chance to swing your stakes all around the 
North Pole, if necessary. You can swing your 
stakes after your location is made any way you 
want to, provided there are no conflicting claims, 
unless you change from northerly and southerly to 
easterly and westerly, or vice versa. In that case, 
you have to make an amended location and record 
it. Let’s see. Where were we? Oh, yes ; together 
with 300 feet on either side of the vein. 

“Located this 18th day of June, 1891.” 

“ Locator —Tenderfoot, Prospector.” 

“Now that is all that is necessary to hold any 
claim, as far as the notice goes. Some prospectors 
put in a claim for all dips, spurs, angles, and varia¬ 
tions throughout the width, breadth and depth of 
the claim; but that’s all foolishness. The law 
grants you all the spurs and angles and dips you 
want. You just go ahead and do as the law re¬ 
quires you to do, to hold any mining claim .”—Butte 
Bystander. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS 


USED IN CONNECTION WITH 


PROSPECTING, MINING, MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, ETG. 


Abraded,. Keduced to powder. 

Acicular. "Needle-shaped. 

Adamantine. Of diamond lustre. 

Adit. A nearly horizontal passage from the surface by 
which a mine is entered. In the United States an adit is 
usually called a tunnel. 

Aerolite. A stone or other body which has come to the 
earth from distant space. 

Agate. Name given to certain siliceous minerals. 

Aggregation. A coherent group. 

Alligator. A rock-breaker operating by jaws. 

Alloy. A compound of two or more metals fused together. 

Alluvium. The earthy deposit made by running streams, 
especially in times of flood. 

Amalgamation. The production of an amalgam or alloy 
of mercury; also the process in which gold and silver are 
extracted from pulverized ores by producing an amalgam 
from which the mercury is afterwards expelled. 

Amorphous. Without any crystallization or definite form. 

Amygdaloids. Small almond-shaped vesicular cavities in 
certain igneous rocks, partly or entirely filled with other 
minerals. 

Analysis (in Chemistry). An examination of the sub¬ 
stance to find out the nature of the component parts and 
17 (257) 



258 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


their quantities. The former is called qualitative and the 
latter quantitative analysis. 

Anemometer. An instrument for measuring the rapidity 
of an air-current. 

Anticlinal. The line of a crest, above or under ground, on 
the two sides of which the strata dip in opposite directions. 
The converse of synclinal. 

Apex. In the U. S. Revised Statutes, the end or edge of a 
vein nearest the surface. 

Aquafortis. Name formerly applied to nitric acid. 

Aqua regia. A mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. 
One volume of strong nitric to three or four of hydrochloric 
acid is a good mixture. 

Arborescent. Of a tree-like form. 

Arenaceous. Siliceous or sandy (of rocks). 

Argentiferous. Containing silver. 

Argillaceous. Containing clay. 

Arrastre. Apparatus for grinding and mixing ores by 
means of a heavy stone dragged around upon a circular bed. 
Chiefly used for ores containing free gold. 

Arsenite. Compound of a metal with arsenic. 

Assay. To test ores and minerals by chemical or blowpipe 
examination. 

Assay-ton. A weight of 29.166§ grammes. 

Assessment-work. The work done annually on a mining 
claim to maintain possessory title. 

Auriferous. Containing gold. 

Axe Stone. A species of jadei It is a silicate of magnesia 
and alumina. 

Back of a lode. The part between the roof and the sur¬ 
face. 

Back-shift. The second set of miners working in any spot 
each day. 

Bank claim. A mining claim on the bank of a stream. 

Banket. Auriferous conglomerates cemented together with 
quartz. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


259 


Bar. A vein or dike crossing a lode ; also a sand or rock 
ridge crossing the bed of a stream. 

Bar-diggings. Gold-washing claims located on the bars 
(shallows) of a stream, and worked when the water is low, 
or otherwise with the aid of coffer-dams. 

Barilla. Native copper disseminated in grains in copper 
ores. 

Barrel-amalgamation. The amalgamation of silver ores 
in wooden barrels with quicksilver, metallic iron, and water. 

Base metals. The metals not classed as noble or precious. 
See Noble metals. 

Bases. Compounds which are converted into salts by the 
action of acids. 

Basin. A natural depression of strata containing a coal 
bed or other stratified deposit; also the deposit itself. 

Battery. A set of stamps in a stamp mill comprising the 
number which fall in one mortar , usually five ; also a bulk¬ 
head of timber. 

Battery-amalgamation. Amalgamation by means of mer¬ 
cury placed in the mortar. 

Bed. A seam or deposit of mineral, later in origin than 
the rock below, and older than the rock above; that is to 
say, a regular member of the series of formation, and not an 
intrusion. 

Bedded-vein. A lode occupying the position of a bed, that 
is, parallel with the stratification of the inclosing rocks. 

Bed-rock. The solid rock underlying alluvial and other 
surface formations. 

Bed-way. An appearance of stratification, or parallel 
marking, in granite. 

Belly. A swelling mass of ore in a lode. 

Black band. A variety of carbonate of iron. 

Black jlax. A mixture of charcoal and potassium car¬ 
bonate. 

Black jack. Zinc-blende. 

Black tin. Tin ore ready dressed for smelting. 


260 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Blanch. Lead ore mixed with other minerals. 

Blanched copper. An alloy of copper and arsenic. 

Blende. Sulphide of zinc. 

Blind level. A level not yet connected with other work¬ 
ings. 

Blind lode. One that does not show surface croppings. 

Blossom. The oxidized or decomposed outcrop of a vein 
or coal Bed. Also called smut and tailing. 

Blow-out. 1. A large outcrop beneath which the vein is 
smaller. 2. A shot or blast is said to blow out when it goes 
off like a gun, and does not shatter the rock. 

Blue-john. Fluorspar. 

Blue lead. The bluish auriferous gravel and cement de¬ 
posit found in the ancient river-channels of California. 

Bluff. A high bank or hill with a precipitous front. 

Bonanza. A body of rich ore. 

Booming. The accumulation and sudden discharge of a 
quantity of water (in placer mining, where water is scarce). 
See also Hushing. 

Bort. Opaque black diamond. 

Botryoidal. Like a bunch of grapes. 

Boulder. A fragment of rock brought by natural means 
from a distance, and usually large and rounded in shape. 

Brasque. A lining for crucibles; generally a compound of 
clay, etc., with charcoal dust. 

Breast. The face of a working. 

Breccia. A conglomerate in which the fragments are 
angular. 

Buddie. An inclined vat, or stationary or revolving plat¬ 
form upon which ore is concentrated by means of running 
water. 

Bullion. Uncoined gold and silver. Base bullion is pig 
lead containing silver and some gold, which are separated by 
refining. 

Buried rivers. River beds which have been buried below 
streams of basalt or alluvial drifts. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


261 


JBurr. Solid rock. 

Button. The globule of metal remaining in a crucible at 
the end of fusion. 

Cage. A frame with one or more platforms used in hoist¬ 
ing in a vertical shaft. 

Cairngorm. A variety of quartz, frequently transparent; 
used as an ornament. 

Calcareous. Containing carbonate of lime. 

Calcination. Roasting at a gentle heat. 

Calcine. To expose to heat with or without oxidation. 

Calcite. Carbonate of lime. 

Canon. A valley, usually precipitous; a gorge. 

Cap or cap-rock. Barren vein matter, or a pinch in a vein, 
supposed to overlie ore. 

Carat. Weight, nearly equal to four grains, used for 
diamonds and precious stones. With goldsmiths and as- 
sayers the term carat is applied to the proportions of gold in 
an alloy; 24 carats represent fine gold. Thus 18 carat gold 
signifies that 18 out of 24 parts are pure gold, the rest some 
other metal. 

Carbonaceous. Containing carbon not oxidized. 

Carbonates. The common term in the West for ores con¬ 
taining a considerable proportion of carbonate of lead. 

Carbonisation. Conversion to carbon. 

Case ■ A small fissure admitting water into the workings. 

Casing. Clayey material found between a vein and its 
wall. 

Cawk. Sulphate of baryta (heavy spar). 

Cement. Gravel firmly held in a siliceous matrix, or the 
matrix itself. 

Champion lode. The main vein as distinguished from 
branches. 

Chasing. Following a vein by its range or direction. 

Chert. Hornstone ; a siliceous stone often found in lime¬ 
stone. 


262 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Choke damp. Carbonic acid gas. 

Chlorides. A common term for ores containing chloride 
of silver. 

Chloridize. To convert into chloride. Applied to the 
roasting of silver ores with salt, preparatory to amalgama¬ 
tion. 

Chute. A channel or shaft underground, or an inclined 
trough above ground, through which ore falls or is “ shot ” 
by gravity from a lower to a higher level. 

Claim. The portion of mining ground held under the 
Federal and local laws by one claimant or association, by 
virtue of one location and record. 

Clay slate. A slate formed by the induration of clay. 

Cleavage. The property of a mineral of splitting more 
easily in some directions than in others. 

Cleavage planes. The planes along which cleavage takes 
place. 

Clinometer. An apparatus for measuring vertical angles, 
particularly dips. 

Cobre ores. Copper ores from Cuba. 

Color. A particle of gold found in the prospector ? s pan. 

Concentration. The removal by mechanical means of the 
lighter and less valuable portions of ore. 

Conchoidal. Name given to a certain kind of fracture re¬ 
sembling a bivalve shell. 

Concretion. A nodule formed by the aggregation of min¬ 
eral matter from without round, some centre. 

Conglomerate. A rock consisting of fragments of other 
rocks (usually rounded) cemented together. 

Consume. The chemical and mechanical loss of mercury 
in amalgamation. 

Contact. The plane between two adjacent bodies of dis¬ 
similar rock. A contact-vein is a vein, and a contact-bed is 
a bed, lying, the former more or less closely, the latter abso¬ 
lutely, along a contact. 

Contortion. Crumpling and twisting. 


GLOSSARY OR TERMS. 263 

Coprolites. Phosphate of lime; petrified excrements of 
animals. 

Counter. A cross vein. 

Country , or Country rock. The rock traversed by or adja¬ 
cent to an ore deposit. 

Course of a lode. Its direction. 

Cradle. See Rocker. 

Cranch. Part of a vein left by old workers. 

Crate dam. A dam built of crates filled with stone. 

Crater. The cup-like cavity at the summit of a volcano. 

Cretaceous. Chalky. 

Crevet. A crucible. 

Crevice. A shallow fissure in the bed-rock under a gold 
placer, in which small but highly concentrated deposits of 
gold are found ; also the fissure containing a vein. 

Cribbing. Close timbering, as the lining of a shaft. 

Cribble. A sieve. 

Cropping-out. The rising of layers of rock to the surface. 

Cross-course. An intersecting (usually), a barren vein. 

Cross-cut. A level driven across the course of a vein. 

Cross-vein. An intersecting vein. 

Cupriferous. Containing copper. 

Gyanidation. Conversion of gold into a double cyanide of 
potassium and gold by the action of cyanide of potassium. 

Dead-roasting. Roasting carried to the farthest practica¬ 
ble degree in the expulsion of sulphur. 

Dead-work. Work that is not directly productive, though 
it may be necessary for exploration and future production. 

Debris. The fragments resulting from shattering and dis¬ 
integration. 

Decrepitate. To crackle and fly to pieces when heated. 

Deep Leads. Alluvial deposits of gold or tinstone buried 
below a considerable thickness of soil or rock. 

Delta. The alluvial land at the mouth of a river; usually 


264 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


bounded by two branches of the river, so as to be of a more 
or less triangular form. 

Dendritic. Like branches of trees. 

Denudation. Kock laid bare by water or other agency. 

Deoxidation. The removal of oxygen. 

Desilver ization. The process of separating silver from its 
alloys. 

Desulphurization. The removal of sulphur from sulpliuret 
ores. 

Detritus , Accumulations from the disintegration of ex¬ 
posed rock surfaces. 

Development. Work done in opening up a mine. 

Dialling. Surveying a mine by means of a dial. 

Diggings. Applicable to all mineral deposits and mining 
camps, but in usage in the United States applied to placer¬ 
mining only. 

Dike. A vein of igneous rock. 

Diluvium. Sand, gravel, clay, etc., in superficial deposits. 

Dip. The inclination of a vein or stratum below the hori¬ 
zontal. 

Disintegration. The breaking asunder of solid matter due 
to chemical or physical forces. 

Dislocation. The displacement of rocks on either side of a 
crack. 

Divining rod. A rod, most frequently of witch-hazel, and 
forked in shape, used according to an old but still extant 
superstition for discovering mineral veins and springs of 
water, and even for locating oil Wells. 

Discovery. The first finding of the mineral deposit in place 
upon a mining claim. A discovery is necessary before the 
location can be held by a valid title. The opening in which 
it is made is called discovery-shaft , discovery-tunnel , etc. 

Ditch. An artificial water-course, flume or canal to con¬ 
vey water for mining. 

Dolly. An apparatus used in washing gold-bearing rocks 
(Australia). 


GLOSSARY OF TEAMS. 


265 


Domes. Strata which are dipping away in every direction. 

Drift. A horizontal passage underground; also unstrati- 
Jied diluvium. 

Druse. A crystallized crust lining the sides of a cavity. 

Dry Ores. Silver ores which do not contain lead. 

Dyke. See Dike. 

Efflorescence. An incrustation of powder or threads, due 
to the loss of the water of crystallization. 

Elements. Substances which have never been decomposed. 

Elutriation. Purification by washing and pouring off the 
lighter matter suspended in water, leaving the heavier por¬ 
tions behind. 

Entry. An adit. 

Erosion. The act or operation of wearing away. 

Excrescence. Grown out of. 

Exfoliate. To peel off in leaves from the outside. 

Exploitation. The productive working of a mine, as dis¬ 
tinguished from exploration. 

Face. In any adit, tunnel, or slope, the end at which work 
is progressing or was last done. 

False Bottom. In alluvial mining a stratum on which 
auriferous beds lie, but which has other bottoms below it. 

Fathom. 6 feet. 

Fault. A dislocation of the strata or vein. 

Feather Ore. A sulphide of lead and antimony. 

Feeder. A small vein adjoining a larger vein. 

Feldspatliic. Containing feldspar as the principal ingre¬ 
dient. 

Ferruginous. Containing iron. 

Fire-damp. Light carburetted hydrogen gas. 

Fissure-vein. A fissure in the earth’s crust filled with 
mineral. # 

Flexible. Capable of being bent without elasticity. 

Flint. A massive impure variety of silica. 


266 prospector’s field-rook and guide. 


Float-copper . Fine scales of metallic copper which do not 
readily settle in water. 

Float-gold. Fine particles of gold which do not readily 
settle in water, and lienee are liable to be lost in the ordinary 
stamp-mill process. 

Float-ore. Water-worn particles of ore ; particles of vein- 
material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop. 

Flocculent. Cloudy, resembling lumps of wool. 

Floor. The rock underlying a stratified or nearly horizon¬ 
tal deposit; also a horizontal, flat ore body. 

Flume. A wooden conduit bringing water to a mine or 
mill. 

Flux. A salt or other mineral added in smelting to assist 
fusion by forming more fusible compounds. 

Foliated. Arranged in leaf-like laminae (such as mica 
schist). 

Foot-wall. The wall under the vein. 

Forfeiture. The loss of possessory title to a mine by fail¬ 
ure to comply with the laws prescribing the quantity of 
assessment work, or by actual abandonment. 

Formation. The series of rocks belonging to an age, 
period or epoch, as the Silurian formation. 

Fossil. Term applied to express the animal or vegetable 
remains found in rocks. 

Founder shaft. The first shaft sunk. 

Free. Native, uncombined with other substances, as free 
gold or silver. 

Free-milling. Applied to ores which contain free gold or 
silver, and can be reduced by crushing and amalgamation, 
without roasting or other chemical treatment. 

Fritting. The formation of a slag by heat with but incip¬ 
ient fusion. 

j Fuller’s earth. An unctuous clay, usually of a greenish- 
gray tint, compact yet friable. Used by fullers 'to absorb 
moisture. 

Fuse. In blasting the fire is conveyed to the blasting agent 
by means of a prepared tape or cord called the fuse. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


267 


Gad. A steel wedge. 

Galiage. Royalty. 

Gallery. A level or drift. 

Gangue. The mineral associated with the ore in a vein. 

Gash. Applied to a vein wide above, narrow below, and 
terminating in depth within the formation it traverses. 

Geode. A cavity, studded around with crystals or mineral 
matter, or a rounded stone containing such cavity. 

Geysers. Intermittent boiling springs. 

Glacier. A body of ice which descends from the high to 
the low ground. 

Glance. Literally, shining. Name applied to certain sul¬ 
phides. 

Globule. A small substance of a spherical shape. 

Goaves. Old workings. 

Gopher or Gopher-drift. An irregular prospecting drift, 
following or seeking the ore without regard to maintenance 
of a regular grade or section. 

Gossan or Gozzan. Hydrated oxide of iron, usually found 
at the decomposed outcrop of a mineral vein. 

Gravel mine. In the United States, an accumulation of 
auriferous gravel. 

Grip. A small narrow cavity. 

Grit. A variety of sandstone of coarse texture. 

Gubbin. A kind of iron stone. 

Gulch. A ravine. 

Gullet. An opening in the strata. 

Hade. See Underlay. 

Hanging-side or Hanging-wall , or Hanger. The wall or 
side over the vein. 

Hard Head. A residual alloy containing much iron and 
arsenic, produced in the refining of tin. 

Heading. The vein above a drift; also an interior level or 
air-way driven in the mine. 

Heading side. The under side of a lode. 


268 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Heave. An apparent lateral displacement of a lode pro¬ 
duced by a fault. 

Hog back. A sharp anticlinal, decreasing in height at 
both ends until it runs out; also a ridge produced by highly 
tilted strata. 

Homogeneous. Of the same structure throughout. 

Horse. A mass of country rock enclosed in an ore deposit. 

Hungry. A term applied to hard barren vein matter, such 
as white quartz. 

Hushing , The discovery of veins by the accumulation and 
sudden discharge of water, which washes away the surface 
soil and lays bare the rock. See Booming. 

Hydraulicking. Washing down a bank of earth or gravel 
by the use of pipes, conveying w r ater under high pressure. 

Hydrous. Containing water in its composition. 


Igneous. Resulting from the action of fire, as, lavas and 
basalt are igneous rocks. 

Impregnation. An ore-deposit consisting of the country- 
rock impregnated with ore. 

Incline. A shaft not vertical; also a plane , not necessarily 
under ground. 

Incrustation. A coating of matter. 

Indicator Vein. A vein which is not metalliferous itself, 
but, if followed, leads to ore deposits. 

In place. Of rock, occupying, relative to surrounding 
masses, the position that it had when formed. 

In situ. In place where formed. 

Intrusion. Forcing through. 

Irestone. Hard clay slate : hornstone ; horn-blende. 

Iridescent. Showing rainbow colors. 

Jigging. Separating ores according to specific gravity with 
a sieve agitated up and down in water. The apparatus is 
called a jig or jigger. 

Jinny-road. A gravity plane underground. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


269 


Jump. To take possession of a mining claim alleged to 
have been forfeited or abandoned; also, a dislocation of a 
vein. 

Keckle-meckle. The poorest kind of lead ore. 

Kibbal or kibble. An iron bucket for raising ore. 

Kicker. Ground left in first cutting a vein, for support of 
its sides. 

Xing's yelloiv. Sulphide of arsenic. 

Knits or knots. Small particles of ore. 

Lagoon. A marsh, shallow pond or lake. 

Lamellar. In thin sheets. 

Lamina. A thin plate or scale. 

Lava. Rock formed by the consolidation of liquid matter 
which has flowed from a volcano. 

Leaching. See Lixiviation. 

Leads. The auriferous portions of alluvial deposits mark¬ 
ing the former courses of streams. 

Leath. Applied to the soft part of a vein. 

Lenticular. Lens-like. 

Level. A horizontal passage or drift into or in a mine. 

Limp. An instrument for striking the refuse from the 
sieve in washing ores. 

Litharge. Protoxide of lead. 

Lixiviation. The separation of a soluble from an insoluble 
material by means of washing with a solvent. 

Loadstone. An iron ore consisting of protoxide and perox¬ 
ide of iron; Magnetite. 

Locate. To establish a right to a mining claim. 

Lode. A regular vein carrying metal. 

Long Tom. A kind of gold-washing oradle. 

Magma. Paste or groundwork of igneous rocks. 

Mainway. A gangway or principal passage. 

Marl. Clay containing carbonate of lime. 


270 prospector's field-book and guide. 


Mass-copper. Native copper occurring in large masses. 

Massicot. See Litharge. 

Matrix. The rock or eaithy material containing a mineral 
or metallic ore; the gangue. 

Matt or Matte. A mass consisting chiefly of metallic sul¬ 
phides got in the fusion of ores. 

Measures. Strata of coal, or the formation containing coal 
beds. 

Meat-earth. The vegetable mould. 

Metalliferous. Metal-bearing. 

Metamorphic. Changed in form and structure. 

Mine. In general, any excavation for minerals. More 
strictly, subterranean workings, as distinguished from quar¬ 
ries, placer and hydraulic mines, and surface or open works. 

Mineral . In miners’ parlance, ore. 

Mineralized. Charged or impregnated with metalliferous 
mineral. 

Mineral-right. The ownership of the minerals under a 
given surface, with the right to enter thereon, mine and 
remove them. It may be separated from the surface owner¬ 
ship, but, if not so separated by distinct conveyance, the 
latter includes it. 

Mine-rent. The rent or royalty paid to the owner of a min¬ 
eral right by the operator of the mine. 

Miners ’ inch. A local unit for the measurement of water 
supplied to hydrualic miners. It is the amount of water 
flowing under a certain head through one square inch of the 
total section of a certain opening for a certain number of 
hours daily. - 

Minium. Protosesquioxide of lead. 

Mock ore. A false kind of mineral. 

Monkey drift. A small prospecting drift. 

Monoclinal. Applied to any limited portion of the earth’s 
crust throughout which the strata dip in the same direction. 

Mountain blue. Blue copper ore. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


271 


Muffle. A semi-cylindrical or long-arched oven, usually 
small and made of fire-clay. 

Mundic. Iron pyrites, called so in Cornwall. White mun- 
dic is mispickel. 

Nacreous. Resembling mother-of-pearl. 

Native. Occurring in nature; not artificially formed; 
usually applied to the metals. 

Nickeliferous or Niccoliferous. Containing nickel. 

Nittings. The refuse of good ore. 

Noble metals. The metals which have so little affinity for 
oxygen that their oxides are reduced by the mere application 
of heat without a reagent; in other words, the metals least 
liable to oxidation under ordinary conditions. The list in¬ 
cludes gold, silver, mercury, and the platinum group. 

Nodule or Noddle. A small round mass. 

Nugget. A lump of native metal, especially of a precious 
metal. 

Nucleus. A body about which anything is collected. 

Open cut. A surface working, open to daylight. 

Ore. A natural mineral compound, of the elements of 
which one at least is a metal. 

Organic Compounds. Compounds containing carbon, gen¬ 
erally derived from animals or plants. 

Outcrop. The portion of a vein or stratum emerging at 
the surface, or appearing immediately under the soil and 
surface debris. 

Output. The product of a mine. 

Oxidation. A chemical union with oxygen. 

Oxide. The combination of a metal with oxygen. 

Pack Walls. Walls built of loose material in mines to sup¬ 
port the roof. 

Panning. AVashing earth or crushed rock in a pan, by 
agitation with water, to obtain the particles of greatest 
specific gravity it contains/, chiefly practiced for gold, also 
for quicksilver, diamonds and other gems. 


272 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Parting. The separation of two metals in an alloy, es¬ 
pecially the separation of gold and silver by means of nitric 
or sulphuric acid. 

Pavement. The floor of a mine. 

Pay-streak. The zone in a vein which carries the profit¬ 
able or pay ore. 

Peroxide. The oxide which contains greatest amount of 
oxide. 

Peter or peter-out. To fail gradually in size or quality. 

Petrified. Changed to stone. 

Petrology. Study of rocks. 

Phosphates. Phosphoric acid combinations. 

Pinch . To contract in width. 

Pipe or pipe-vein. An ore-body of elongated form. 

Piping. Washing gold deposits by means of a hose. 

Placer. A deposit of valuable mineral, found in particles 
in alluvium or diluvium , or beds of streams, etc. 

Plasma. A green variety of quartz. 

Plastic. Easily moulded. 

Plat . The map of a survey in horizontal projection. 

Plumbago. Graphite or black lead. 

Plumb Bob. A weight suspended by a string to determine 
vertical lines. 

Plush-copper < A fibrous red copper ore. 

Pocket. A small body of ore. 

Porphyritic. Of the nature of porphyry. 

Potstone. Compact steatite*. 

Precipitate. Term applied to solid matter which is sepa¬ 
rated from a solution by the addition of reagents or exposure 
to heat. 

Prill. A good sized piece of pure ore. 

Prisms. Solids whose bases are plane figures, and whose 
sides are parallelograms. 

Pryan. Ore in small pebbles mixed with clay. 

Pudding-Stone. A conglomerate in which the pebbles are 
rounded. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


273 


Pulp-assay. The assay of samples taken from the pulp , 
i. e., pulverized ore and water, after or during crushing. 

Putty powder. Crude oxide of tin. 

Quarry. An open or day working. 

Quartz. Crystalline silica; also, any hard gold or silver 
ore, as distinguished from gravel or earth, hence quartz-min¬ 
ing as distinguished from hydraulic, etc. 

Quartose. Containing quartz as a principal ingredient. 

Quicksand. Sand which is, or becomes, upon the access 
of water, “quick,” i. e., shifting, easily movable or semi¬ 
liquid. 

Race. A small thread of spar or ore. 

Radiating. Diverging from a centre. 

Range. A mineral-bearing belt of rocks. 

Ravine. A deep narrow valley. 

Reduce. To deprive of oxygen; also, in general to treat 
metallurgically for the production of metal. 

Refractory. Resisting the action of heat and chemical 
agents. 

Reniform. Ividney-like. 

Reticulated Veins. Veins traversing rocks in all directions. 

Reverse Faults. Faults due to thrust; the hanging-wall 
side of the fault being forced upwards on the foot-wall. 

Rider. See Horse. 

Riffle. A groove or interstice, or a cleat or block, so placed 
as to produce the same effect, in the bottom of a sluice, to 
catch free gold. 

Rim-rock. The bed-rock rising to form the boundary of a 
placer or gravel deposit. 

Rise. That portion of a bed or coal-seam which lies above 
a level is said to be “ to the rise.” 

Roasting. Calcination, usually with oxidation. 

Rocker. A short trough in which auriferous sands are 
agitated by oscillation, in water, to collect their gold. 

Rolley-way, A gangway, 

18 


274 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Roof. The strata immediately above a coal seam. 

Rosette copper. Disks of copper, red from the presence of 
suboxide, formed by cooling the surface of melted copper 
through sprinkling with water. 

Royalty. The dues of a lessor or landlord of a mine, or of 
the owner of a patented invention. 

Rusty gold. Free gold which does not easily amalgamate*, 
the particles being coated, as is supposed, with oxide of iron. 

Saccharoid. Like lump-sugar. 

Saddle. An anticlinal in a bed or flat vein. 

Sal ammoniac. Chloride of ammonium. 

Saline. A salt-spring or well; salt works. 

Sampling. Mixing ores so that a portion taken from the 
mixture may fairly represent the whole body. 

Schist. Crystalline rock. 

Schorl. Black tourmaline. 

Seam. A stratum or bed of coal or other mineral. 

Sectile. Easily cut. 

Sediment. A deposit formed by water. 

Segregate. To separate the undivided joint ownership of a 
mining claim into smaller individual “ segregated ” claims. 

Segregation. A mineral deposit formed by concentration 
from the adjacent rock. 

Salvage or Selfedge. A layer of clay or decomposed rock 
along a vein-wall. 

Shaft. A pit sunk from the surface. 

Shake. A cavern, usually in limestone ; also a crack in a 
block of stone. 

Shale. Consolidated clay. 

Shift. The time fora miner’s work in one day; also the 
gang of men working for that period, as the dap-shift , the 
night-shift. 

Shingle. Clean gravel. 

Side-basset. A transverse direction to the line of dip in 
strata. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


275 


Silicates. Compounds of silica or silicic acid with a base. 

Siliceous. Consisting of or containing silex or quartz. 

Sinter. A deposit from hot springs. 

Slag. The vitreous mass separated from the fused metals 
in smelting ores. 

Slate. Indurated clays, sometimes metamorphosed. 

Slichensules. Polished and sometimes striated surfaces on 
the walls of a vein, or on interior joints of the vein-material 
or of rock masses. 

Slide. A fault or cross course. 

Slime ore. Finely crushed ore mixed with water to the 
consistence of mud or slime. 

Sline. Natural transverse cleavage of rock. 

Slip. A vertical dislocation of rocks. 

Slope. An inclined opening to a mine. 

Sluicing. Washing auriferous earth through long boxes 
(sluices). 

Slums. The most finely crushed ores. 

Spall or Spawl. To break ore. Pieces of ore thus broken 
are called spalls. 

Speiss or speise. Impure metallic arsenides, principally of 
iron produced in copper and lead smelting. Cobalt and 
nickel are found concentrated in the speiss obtained from 
ores containing these metals. 

Spoon. An instrument made of an ox or buffalo horn, in 
which earth or pulp may be delicately tested by washing to 
detect gold, amalgam, etc. 

Spur. A branch leaving a vein, but not returning to it. 

Stalactites. Icicle-like incrustations hanging down from 
the roof of caves. 

Stalagmites. Similar to stalactites, but formed on the floor 
of the caves by the deposition of solid matter held in solution 
by dropping water. 

Stannary. A tin mine, or tin works. 

Step-vein. A vein alternately cutting through the strata 
of country-rock and running parallel with them. 


276 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Stockwork. An ore deposit of such a form that it is 
worked in floors or stories. 

Stope. To remove the ore. 

Stratum. A bed or layer. 

Streak. The powder of a mineral, or the mark which it 
makes when rubbed upon a harder substance. 

Striated. Marked with parallel grooves or striae. 

Strike. The direction of a horizontal line drawn in the 
middle plane of a vein or stratum not horizontal. 

String. A small vein. 

Strip. To remove from a quarry, or open working, the 
overlying earth and disintegrated or barren surface rock. 

Stull. A platform laid on timbers, braced across a work¬ 
ing from side to side, to support workmen or to carry ore or 
waste. 

Sturt. A tribute- bargain which turns out profitable for the 
miner. 

Sublimation. The volatilization and condensation of a solid 
substance without fusion. 

Submetallic. Of imperfect metallic lustre. 

Subsidence. The sinking down of. 

Subtransparent. Of imperfect transparency. 

Sulphate. A salt containing sulphuric acid. 

Sulphide. A combination of metal with sulphur. 

Sulphurets. In miners’ phrase, the undecomposed metal¬ 
lic ores, usually sulphides. Chiefly applied to auriferous 
pyrites. 

Synclinal. The axis of a depression of the strata; also the 
depression itself. Opposed to anticlinal , which is the axis of 
an elevation. 

Tailings The lighter and sandy portions of the ore on a 
buddle or in a sluice. 

Tail-race. The channel in which tidings, suspended in 
water, are conducted away. 

Thermal. Hot, e. g., thermal springs. 


GLOSSARY OF TERMS. 


277 


Throw. A dislocation or fault of a vein or stratum, which 
has been thrown up or down by the movement. 

Tinstone. Ore containing small grains of oxide of tin. 

Toadstone. A kind of trap-rock. 

Toughening. Refining, as of copper or gold. 

Translucent. Allowing light to pass through, yet not trans¬ 
parent. 

Trap. In miners’ parlance, any dark igneous, or appar¬ 
ently igneous, or volcanic rock. 

Trend. The course of a vein. 

Tribute. A portion of ore given to the miner for his labor. 

Trogue. A wooden trough, forming a drain. 

Trow. A wooden channel for air or water. 

Tuff or Tufa. A soft sandstone or calcareous deposit. 

Tunnel. A nearly horizontal underground passage, open 
at both ends to day. See Adit. 

Turn. A pit sunk in a drift. 

Underlay or Underlie. The departure of a vein or stratum 
from the vertical, usually measured in horizontal feet per 
fathom of inclined depth. 

Unstratified. Not arranged in strata. 

Upcast. A lifting of a coal seam by a dike. 

Vanning. Washing “ tin-stuff ” by means of a shovel. 

Vein. See Lode. The term vein is also sometimes applied 
to small threads, or subordinate features of a larger deposit. 

Vein stuff. Ore associated with gangue. 

Vermilion. Mercury sulphide. 

Vitreous. Glassy. 

Volatile. Capable of easily passing off as vapor. 

Vug , Vugg or Vugh. A cavity in the rock, usually lined 
with a crystalline incrustation. See Geode. 

Walls. The boundaries of a lode, the upper one being the 
“ hanging,” the lower the “foot wall.” 


278 prospector’s field-book and guide. 


Wash Dirt. Auriferous gravel, sand, clay, etc. 

Wastrel. A tract of waste land, or any waste material. 

Weathering. Changing under the effect of continued ex¬ 
posure to atmospheric agencies. 

Whim or Whimsey. A machine for hoisting by means of 
a vertical drum, revolved by horse or steam power. 

White-damp. A poisonous gas sometimes encountered in 
coal mines. 

Wild lead. Zinc blende. 

Win. To extract ore or coal. 

Wing Dams. Dams built from the side of a river with 
the object of deflecting it from its course. 

Winze. An interior shaft, usually connecting two levels. 

Working home. Working toward the main shaft in ex¬ 
tracting ore. 

Working out. Working away from the main shaft in ex¬ 
tracting ore. 

Zinc-scum. The zinc-silver alloy skimmed from the sur¬ 
face of the bath in the process of desilverization of lead by 
zinc. 

Zinc-white. Oxide of zinc. 


INDEX. 


A CID, fuming nitric, prepara¬ 
tion of, 102 
nitromuriatic, 82 
Adamantine lustre, 7 
Agate, 233, 234 
Alabama, bauxite in, 187 
Alabaster, 200 

Alaska, extent of gold-bearing 
rocks in, 107, 108 
gold in, 106 

Klondike district in, 106 
Almaden, Spain, quicksilver de¬ 
posits at, 167 
Almandine ruby, 227 
Alum, 191 

Alumina, detection of, 57, 65 
Aluminium, 184-188 

antimony, manganese, 184— 
191 

Amalgam, gold, 80, 95 
native, 166, 167 

Amalgamating assay, directions 
for making an, 91-93 
Amazon stone, 235 
Amethyst, 235 
oriental, 225 
Amydolite, 13 
Analyses of ores, 56-77 
Analysis, qualitative, of ores, 59- 
77 

wet method of, 59-71 
Anglesite, 141 
Anthracite, 197 
Antimony, 188 

aluminium, manganese, 184— 
191 

detection of, 57 
indication of, 70 
ore, testing of, 76, 77 
Apatite, 191, 192 
Aquamarine, 228 


Aqua regia, 82 
Aqueous rock, 12, 15 
Areas, to measure, 49-52 
Argentite, 117 

Arizona, diamonds in, 222, 223 
meteoric iron from, 45 
ozocerite in, 215 
ruby copper in, 132 
turquois in, 46, 233 
Arkansas, bauxite in, 187 
manganese in, 190 
Arsenic, 192. 193 
detection of, 56 
native, 192, 193 
testing for, 69, 70 
Arsenical pyrites, 160 
Asbestos, 193, 194 
Asbolite, 183 

Asphalt, native, or bitumen, 217- 
219 

noted deposits of, 218 
peat, petroleum, ozocerite, 
206-219 

Assay, amalgamating, directions 
for making an, 91-93 
dry, of ores, 71-75 
furnace, 71, 72 
Asterias, 225 
Auriferous lodes, 19-21 

quartz, rule for ascertaining 
the amount of gold in a 
lump of, 108, 109 
Avoirdupois weight, 243 * 

Azoic rock, 9 
Azurite, 131 

B ALAS ruby, 227 

Ballarat, Australia, largest 
nugget of gold found at, 
80, 81 

Banca, discovery of tin in, 147 

( 279 ) 





280 


INDEX. 


Barium carbonate, 195 
sulphate, 194, 195 
Bars, boring, 250 
hard, 24 

Barytes, 194, 195 
Basalt, 13 
Bassets, 18 
Batea, the, 83 
Bauxite, 186, 187 
Beds and layers, 17, 18 
Bell metal, 147 
Beryl or emerald, 228, 229 
Billiton, discovery of tin in, 147 
Biotite, 17, 99, 203 
Bismuth, 168, 169 
gold, 80 
indication of, 69 
nickel, cobalt, cadmium, mer¬ 
cury, 166-183 
Bitumen, elastic, 217 

or native asphalt, 217-219 
Bituminous coal, 197 
Black band ore, 158, 159 
diamond, 221 
gold, 80 
jack, 153, 154 
lead, 199, 200 
oxide of copper, 130 
Blende, 153, 154 
Bloodstone or heliotrope, 234 
Blowpipe, the, 26-35 
experiments, 32-35 
flames, characteristic power 
of, 29-31 

mode of using the, 27, 28 
principal means of testing 
minerals before the, 31 
Blue carbonate of copper, 131 
Blueite, 172 
Bole, 196 
Borax, 26, 195 
Boring, 250 

Borneo, black diamond in, 224 
occurrence of the diamond 
in, 221 
Bornite, 131 
Bort, 224 
Brasquing, 72 

Brazil, black diamond in, 224 
matrix of the diamonds in, 5 
occurrence of the diamond 
in, 221 


British weights, basis of, 241 
Brittle silver ore, 118, 119 
Bromic silver, 119 
Bromyrite, 119 
Brown coal, 197 
Brown hematite, 157, 158 
hematites, locality of, 9 
iron ore, 157, 158 
Burning and drifting, 89, 90 
Burnt topaz, 228 


TUDMIUM, 183 

^ cobalt, mercury, bismuth, 
nickel, 166-183 
indication of, 69 
Calamine, 152, 153 
Calaverite, 110 
Calcite hexagonal crystals, 41 
California, borax in, 195 
free gold in, 97 
Gulch, Colorado, section of 
strata, showing portion of 
the carbonate of lead de¬ 
posits, 140 
petroleum in, 206 
platinum in, 111 
quicksilver-bearing belt of, 
167, 168 


Canada, asbestos in,'194 
Cannel coal, 197 
Carbonados, 250 
Carbonate of lead, 140, 141 

soda, dry, prepara¬ 
tion of, 26 

Carbonates, detection of, 58 
Carnelian, 234 
Cassiterite, 146 
Cerargyrite, 117, 118 
Gerussite, 140,141 
Chalcedony, 234 
Chalcocite, 128, 129 
Chalcopyrite, 2, 129, 130, 171 
Charcoal for blow-pipe experi¬ 
ments, 26 

Chemical elements, their sym¬ 
bols, equivalents and spe¬ 
cific gravities, 251,'252 
substances, common names 
of, 253, 254 
China clay, 196 
Chlorospinel, 227 
Chromate of lead, 142 



INDEX. 


281 


Chromic iron, 159 
Chromite, 159 

Chromium, blow-pipe test for, 
65 

detection of, 58, 65 
Chrysocolla, 130 
Chrysoprase, 234 
Cinnabar, 166 
streak of, 3 
Clay, 184, 195, 196 
Cleavage, 3 
Coal, 196, 197 
Cobalt, 181-183 

and nickel, analysis of ores 
for, 172-180 
separation of, in the 
analysis of ores, 
178-180 

bloom, 182 

cadmium, mercury, bismuth, 
nickel, 166-183 
detection of, 57, 67 
earthy, 183 
wad, 183 

Cobaltite, 181, 182 
Color, an eye for, 82 
Colorado, deposits zinc sul¬ 
phide at, 155 
graphite in, 199 
petroleum in, 206 
turquois in, 46, 233 
Compass, method of using the, in 
searching for ore, 164, 165 
Comstock lode, east and west sec¬ 
tion across the, 122 
extent of, 123 
non-metallic sub¬ 
stances of the, 121 
north and south sec¬ 
tion of the, 124 
Conchoidal fracture, 3 
Copper, 127-137 

bed at the Dolly Hide mine, 
Md., section of the, 132 
black oxide of, 130 
blue carbonate of, 131 
detection of, in silver, 116 
examination of a mineral for 
evidence of, 134 
of a region for, 134 
geology of, 131-135 


Copper, glance, 128, 129 
gray. 129 

green carbonate of, 130,131 
indication of, 69 
nickel, 170 
occurrence of, 127 
ore, red, 128 
testing of, 76 
properties of, 127 
pyrites, 2, 129, 130 
variegated, 131 
region, Lake Superior, sec¬ 
tion of strata in, 133 
separation of, in the analysis 
of ores for nickel and co¬ 
balt, 173, 174 
silicate of, 130 

suggestions for the detection 
of, as an ore, 132, 133 
testing for, 127, 128 
to obtain the per cent, of, in 
an ore, 135-137 
vitreous, 128, 129 
Coprolites, 192 
Corundum, 184, 185 
Cradle, the, 84, 85 
Creeks, wash of, 21, 22 
Crocoite, 142 

Crowder’s Mount, N. C., lazulite 
found at, 
44 

topaz found 
at, 45 

Cryolite, 185, 186 
Crystalline forms, systems of, 36 
Crystallographic systems, illus¬ 
trations of, 42-46 
Crystallography, 36-46 
Cuba, asphalt deposits in, 218 
Cube, the, 37, 38 
Cupel, the, 71 
Cupellation, 74, 75 
Cuprite, 128 

Cyanide of potassium, extracting 
gold by means of, 93, 94 

D AKOTA, form of tin ores in, 
148 

tin mines, associations in, 147 
Delfs, 18 

Deposits, irregular, 18 






282 


INDEX. 


Deposits, superficial, guide in 
looking for indication of, 
24 

surface, 18, 19 
Diamond, 220-225 

-bearing ground at the Kim¬ 
berly mine, composition 
of, 222 

black, 221, 224 
colors of, 223, 224 
drill, 250, 251 
natural surface of the, 223 
properties of, 224 
refraction of, 224 
value of, 224, 225 
Diamonds, largest, names of, 225 
matrix of, 5 
occurrence of, 220-223 
Diatoms, 201 
Dodecahedron, the, 38 
Dolerite, 13 
Dolomite, 197 

Drift, section showing conditions 
under which gold is usually 
found in, 97 

Drifting and burning, 89, 90 
Drill, diamond, 250, 251 
Dry assay of ores, 71-75 

pulverization for the, 
73, 74 

Ductility, 6, 7 

E AGLE vein, Lake Superior, 
section of the, 133 
Earth, alluvial, washing out, 90 
movements of the crust of, 11 
Earthy cobalt, 183 
fracture, 3 

East Galicia, ozocerite in, 215, 
216 

India ruby, 226 
Elastic bitumen, 217 
Elasticity and flexibility, 5 
Elaterite, 6, 217 

Elements, chemical, their sym¬ 
bols, equivalents and spe¬ 
cific gravities, 251, 252 
to find the proportional parts 
by weight of the, 253 
Emerald nickel, 170 
or beryl, 228, 229 


Emerald, oriental, 225 
Emery, 184, 185 

Emma Mine, geology of, 125, 126 

English length, 241 

Epidote, 231 

Erubiscite, 131 

Erytlirite, 182 

Eureka Mines, 123, 125 

Excess, definition of, 65 

Eye agates, 233 

F eldspar, i98 

crystals of, 42 
Fire opal, 232 

Fissures, occurrence of petroleum 
in, 214, 215 

Flame, oxidizing, 28, 29 
reducing, 28 

Flexibility and elasticity, 5 
Float galena, 23 
Florentine diamond, the, 225 
Fluorite, 198 
Fluorspar, 198 

Flux for gold and silver ores, 75 
Foleyrite, 172 

Forest Creek, Victoria, Australia, 
large lump of gold found at, 80 
Fracture, 3 
Franklinite, 156 
French measures, 246, 247 
Fuller’s earth, 196 
Fuming nitric acid, preparation 
of, 102 

Furnace, assay, 71, 72 


G alena, iss 

deposits of, 


indicated by 
the lead plant, 22 
limestones, 143 
ores, geology and form of, 
139 


silver in, test for, 138, 139 
testing of, 76 

Gap Mine, Lancaster Co., Pa., 
nickel ore at the, 171 
Garnet, 46, 230 

brown, in the Hearnev mines, 
151 

Garnierite, 181 

Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard, 
Mass., clays at, 187, 188 




INDEX. 


283 


Geology, mineralogy, mining, 
prospecting, glossary of 
terms used in connection 
with, 25T—2*78 
of silver ores, 120-126 
practical, 11-25 

Gems and precious stones, 220-240 
characteristics of, table of, 
238-240 

Gem stones known to occur in the 
United States, list of, 
236. 237 

occurring only in the 
United States, 237 
species and varieties of, j 
found in the United 
States, but not met 
with in gem form, 237 
species and varieties of, 
not yet identified in 
any form in the United 
States, 237 

unfamiliarity with the 
appearance of, in their 
native state, 220 

Georgetown. Col., deposits of zinc 
sulphide at, 155 
Georgia, bauxite in, 187 
corundum in, 185 
manganese in, 190 
Girdles, 18 
Glance coal, 197 
Glassy lustre, 7 

Glossary of terms used in connec¬ 
tion with prospecting, mining, 
mineralogy, geology, etc., 257— 
278 

Gneiss, 14 
Gold, 78-109 

amalgam, 80, 95 
and silver ores, flux for, 75 
separation of, by the 
wet process, 75 
specific gravity of 
ores associated 
with, 247 

bearing rocks in Alaska, ex¬ 
tent of, 107, 108 
behavior of, towards acids, 82 
under the blow¬ 
pipe, 82 


Gold, bismuth, 80 
black, 80 

chief sources of supply of, 79 
color of, 2 

crystallization of, 80 
distribution of, 78, 79 
ductility of, 7 
dust. 80 

extraction of, by means of 
cvanide of potassium, 93, 
" 94 

free, in California, 97 
in combination, 100 
granitic regions, 96 
metallic sulphides, to sep¬ 
arate, 100-105 
pyrites, detection of, 80 
indication of, 69 
large lump of, 80 
largest nugget of, 80, 81 
Mexican rhodium, 80 
mixture of, with pyrite, 95 
native, analyses of, 79 
native, determination of, 56 
occurrence of, 79 
ores, testing of, by the dry 
method, 74-76 
original home of, 99 
position of, 95 

other forms and conditions 
of, 94, 95 

physical properties of, 81 
placer, 94 

profitable working of, 104 
right-hand branch of a river, 
the source of, 19, 20 
section showing the two con¬ 
ditions under which, usu¬ 
ally found in rock and 
drift. 97 

where found, 95-100 
world’s great paying source 
of, 94, 95 

Grand Duke of Tuscany diamond, 
the, 225 
Granite, 16, 17 
Granitic regions, gold in, 96 
Graphic granite, 16 
tellurium, 110 
Graphite, 199, 200 

test for the purity of, 199, 200 








284 


INDEX. 


Gravels, gold-bearing, platinum 
in, 111 

Graves’ Mount, Ga., lazulite found 
at, 44 

Gray copper, 129 

Green carbonate of copper, 130,131 

Greenockite, 183 

Greenstone, 13 

Greisen, 149 

Gurley’s Norwegian compass, 162 
Gypsum, 200 

H ACKLY fracture, 3 
Hard bars, 24 
Hardness 4 

scale of, 4, 5 
Harlequin opal, 232 
Hearney Peak mines, 148 

brown garnet in 
the, 151 

Heavy spar, 194, 195 
Heights, inaccessible, to measure, 
47-49 

Heliotrope or bloodstone, 234 
Hematite brown, 157, 158 
red, 156, 157 
Hematites, locality of, 9 
Hessite, 110 
Hexagonal prism, 40 
system, 39, 40 

illustrations of, 43 
Horizons, 10 

abounding in the useful min¬ 
erals in the United States, 
12 

barren, 11 

Horn silver, 117, 118 
Hydraulic mining. 87-89 
Hydrogen apparatus, construction 
of, 176-178 

sulphide, preparation of, 62- 
64 

Hyposyenite, 99 

I DRIA. Austria, cinnabar at, 167 
Igneous rock, 9, 12, 13, 99 
India, occurrence of diamonds in, 
220 , 221 

Indicative plants, 22, 23 
Infusorial earth, 200, 201 


Instruction, preparatory, 1-35 
Iridescent labradorite, 235 
Iridium, 114. 115 
Iron, 155-165 

chief ores of, 155-160 
chromic, 159 
indication of, 56 
meteoric, 45 
pyrites, 2, 159, 160 

to separate gold in, 100- 
105 

ore, brown, 157, 158 
spathic, 158 
' geology of, 161, 162 
ores of Lake Superior, geolo¬ 
gic horizons around the, 
157 

separation of, in the analysis 
of ores for nickel and co¬ 
balt, 174, 175 

sesquioxide, establishment of 
the presence of, 66 
specular, streak of, 3, 4 
stone blow out, 96, 97 
use of the magnetic needle 
in prospecting for. 162-165 
vegetation indicative of, 23 
-zinc. 152—165 
Irregular deposits, 18 
Isometric system. 36-38 

illustrations of, 43 

Itaeolumite, 5 

JACINTH, the, 39 
'J Jack’s tin, 172 
Jamesonite, 142 
Jasper, 234 

tfetferson City, Montana, deposits 
of zinc sulphide near, 155 
Jet, 197 

K aolin, 184, i96 

Kentucky, petroleum in, 206 
Kimberley m ; ne, diamond-bearing 
ground at the, 222 
Klondike district. Alaska, 106 
Koh i-noor, the, 225 
Ivunz, G. F., list of gem stones 
known to occur in the United 
States prepared by, 235-237 




INDEX. 


285 


T AKE GEORGE diamonds, 234 
Lake Superior copper region, 
section of strata in, 133 
iron ores, geol¬ 
ogic horizons 
around the, 
157 

Lapis lazuli, 44 
Layers and beds, 17, 18 
Lazulite, 43 
Lead, 138-145 

and tin, 138-151 
-antimony ores, 142 
carbonate of, 140, 141 
chromate of, 142 
deposit, section of a, in a fis¬ 
sure in limestone, 145 
detection of, 61 
district of Wisconsin, Illinois, 
and Iowa, order of strata 
in the, 139 
geology of, 142-145 
indication of, 69 
lode in micaceous slate in 
mine near Middletown, 
Conn., 139 
native, 138 
ochre, 142 
ore, testing of, 76 
phosphate of, 141, 142 
plant, the, 22 

separation of, in the analysis 
of ores for nickel and co¬ 
balt, 172, 173 
sulphate, 141 

detection of, 68 
veins, circulation of water 
in, 144 
Ledge, 17 

Length, English, 241 
French, 246 

particular measures of, 242 
Lignite, 197 
Lime, detection of, 57 
Limestone, hydraulic, smell of, 6 
section of a lead deposit in a 
fissure in, 145 
vegetation indicative of, 23 
Limestones, black, smell of, 6 
Limonite, 157, 158 
Line, inaccessible, to measure an, 
52-54 


Lines, stepping off, 49 
Linnaeite, 182 

Lithographic limestone, 201, 202 
Loadstone, 155 

Locating, instructions on, 255,256 
Lode, examination of a, 24, 25 
prospecting, 90, 91 
Lodes, 17 

auriferous, 19-21 
Long tom, 85, 86 
Lustre, 7 

M agnesia, detection of, 57 

Magnesian mica, 203 
Magnetic needle, use of the, in 
prospecting for iron, 162— 
165 

ores, locality of, 9 
Magnetite, 155 

occurrence of, 24 
Malachite, 130, 131 
Malleability, 6 
Manganese, 188-191 

antimony, aluminium, 184— 
191 

carbonate, 190 
detection of, 57, 67 
geological position of, 190 
ores, classes of, 188 
oxide, 188, 189 

Massachusetts, corundum in, 185 
Massicot, 142 
Measure, solid, 242 
surface, 242 
Measures, 18 

and weights, 241-249 
French, 246, 247 
Meerschaum, 202 
Mercury, bismuth, nickel, cobalt 
and eadmium, 166-183 
detection of, 58, 61 
native, 166 

or quicksilver, 166-168 
ore, testing of, 76 
oxide, detection of, 68 
sulphide of, 166 
Metallic adamantine lustre, 7 
lustre, 7 

sulphides, to separate gold 
in. 100-105 
streak, 4 






286 


INDEX. 


Metals, colors of, 2 
forms of, 2 
locality of, 19 
native, 2 

ores, rocks, etc., specific grav¬ 
ity of, 247-249 

Metamorphic, definition of, 99 
rock. 12, 14, 98, 99 
Meteoric iron, 45 
Mica schist, 14, 15 
Micas, 202, 203 
Milk opal, 232 
Millerite, 170, 171 
Mills, power for, 249, 250 
Mineral caoutchouc. 6 

finds, best, accidental discov¬ 
ery of, 1 

Hill, Md., linnaeite from, 182 
resins,, allied to ozocerite, 
216, 217 

specific gravity of a, 8 
specimens, study of, 78 
tar, 208 

tin-bearing, testing of, 145 
trying the hardness of a, 5 
Mineralogy, geology, mining, pros¬ 
pecting, glossary of terms 
used in connection with, 
257-278 
special, 78-109 
technical. 1-11 

Minerals associated with tin, 149, 
150 

cleavage of, 3 
ductility of, 6, 7 
flexibility and elasticity of, 5 
form of, 8, 9 

indicative of their 
composition, 36 
fracture of, 3 
hardness of, 4 
horizons of, 11 
in the diamond-bearing 
sands, South Africa, 221, 
222 

lustre of, 7 
malleability of, 6 
of common occurrence, spe¬ 
cific gravity of, 248, 249 
principal means of testing, 
be'fore the blow-pipe, 31 


Minerals, smell of, 6 
streak of, 3, 4 
taste of, 6 
tellurium, 110 
various useful, 191-205 
weight of, 8, 9 
Mines, 18 

Mining, hydraulic, 87-89 

mineralogy, geology, pros¬ 
pecting, glossary of terms 
used in connection with, 
257-278 

superstitions, 20 
Mispickel. 6, 160 
Missouri, barytes in, 194 
Molybdenite. 203 
Molybdenum, 203 
Monoclinic system, 41, 42 

illustrations of, 43 
Montana, deposits of zinc sulphide 
in, 155 

Moonstone, 235 
Mortar, 90 
Moss agate, 233 

Mount Lincoln, Colo., deposits of 
zinc sulphide at, 155 
Mud volcanoes, 210 
Muffle, the, 71 
Muscovite, 17, 203 

N AGYAGITE, 110 

Native amalgam, 166, 167 
Native asphalt or bitumen, 217— 
219 

metals, 2 

Nevada, borax in, 195 
turquois in, 233 

New’ Caledonia, nickel in, 180, 
181 

New Jersey, barytes in, 194 
corundum in, 185 
section of strata near 
Sparta zinc mines, 154 
summary of indications 
from the magnetic 
needle in searching for 
iron ore in, 162-165 
New Mexico, diamonds in, 222, 223 
turquois in, 46. 233 
New York, graphite in, 199 
Nickel, 169-172 



INDEX. 


287 


Nickel and cobalt, analysis of ores 
for, 172-180 
separation of, in 
the analysis of 
ores, 178-180 

arsenide, 170 
chief ores of, 169-172 
cobalt, cadmium, bismuth, 
mercury, 166-183 
detection of, 57, 67, 169 

with the blow¬ 
pipe, 169 
-steel armor plates, 180 
Nicolite, 170 
Nitre, 204 

Nitric acid, fuming, preparaticn 
of, 102 

Nitromuriatic acid, 82 
North Carolina, corundum in, 185 
diamonds in, 222, 
223 

manganese in, 191 
meteoric iron 
found in, 45 
petroleum in, 206 

O BSIDIAN, 14 

Octahedron, the, 38 
Octahedron, tetragonal, 39 
Oil bearing sandstone, fresh frac¬ 
ture of, 208 
tracing of,208,209 
stratum, tracing of, 211 
Oligoclase, orthoclase and labra- 
dorite, 235 

Onyx or sardonyx, 235 
Opal, 231, 232 

Ore, antimony, testing of, 76, 77 
association of, in metallifer¬ 
ous veins, 25 
copper, testing of, 76 
lead, testing of, 76 
method of using the compass 
in searching for, 164, 165 
mercury, testing of, 76 
tin, testing of, 76 
to obtain the per cent, of 
copper in an, 135-137 
Ores, analyses of, 56-77 

analysis of, for nickel and | 
cobalt, 172-180 


Ores associated w r ith gold and 
silver, specific gravity of, 
247 

dry assay of, 71-75 
galena, geology and form of, 
139 

gold and silver, flux for, 75 
separation of, 75 
testing of, by the dry 
method, 74-76 
lead-antimony, 142 
magnetic, locality of, .9 
preliminary examinations of, 
56-59 

qualitative analysis of, 59-77 
rocks, metals, etc., specific 
gravity of, 247-249 
silver, testing of, by the dry 
method, 74-76 

various, specific gravity of, 
247, 248 

wet method of analysis of, 
59-71 

Oregon, platinum in. Ill 
Oriental amethyst, 225 
emerald, 225 
topaz, 225 

Orlof diamond, the, 225 
Orpiment, 193 
Orthoclase, 198 

oligoclase and labradorite, 
235 

Orthorhombic system, 41 

illustrations of,43 

I Osmium, 115 

Outcrop line, construction and 
tracing of, 211, 212 
Oxford, Warren Co., N. J., report 
upon a magnetic survey at, 
162-165 

Oxidizing flame, 28, 29 
Ozocerite, 215-217 

asphalt, peat, petroleum, 
206-219 

mineral resins allied to, 216, 
217 

properties of, 217 

P ALLADIUM, 115 

Panning out, 83, 84 
Peacock ore, 130 





288 


INDEX. 


Pearly lustre, *7 
Peat, 219 

petroleum, asphalt ozocerite, 
206-209 
Pegmatite, 203 

Pelton wheel, rule applicable to 
the, 249, 250 

Pennsylvania, corundum in, 185 
oil strata in, 206 
Petroleum, 206-215 

color of traces of, 209 
crude, occurrence of, 206 
crude, properties of, 206 
indications of, 207 
occurrence of, in fissures, 
214, 215 

outfit for prospecting for, 206 
ozocerite, asphalt, peat, 206- 
219 

prospecting for, 206 
quality of, 215 
sketch-map in prospecting 
for, 212, 213 

vein-like occurrence of, 213, 
214 

water-test for, 208 
Petzite, 110 
Phenacite, 229 

Phillips’ rule for ascertaining the 
amount of gold in a lump of 
auriferous quartz, 108, 109 
Phosphate of lead, 141, 142 
lime, 191, 192 
vegetation indicative of, 23 
Pilot Knob, Mo., section of, 161, 
162 

Pitt diamond, the, 225 
Placer gold, 94 
Plants, indicative, 22, 23 
Plaster of Paris, 200 
Plastic clay, 196 
Platinum, 111-114 

chemical test of, 113, 114 
chief supply of, 112 
derivation of the term, 112 
distinction of, 113 
indication of, 69 
minerals associated with, 112 
occurrence of, 111 
properties of, 111 
silver, tellurium, 110-126 


Platinum, wire loop, preparation 
of, 30 

Pleonast, 227 
Plumbago, 199, 200 
Pockets, 18 
Porcelain clay, 196 
Pot holes, 24 
Potash mica, 203 
Potassium cyanide, extracting 
gold by means of, 93, 94 
Pottery clay, 196 
Power for mills, 249, 250 
Precious opal, 232 

stones and gems, 220-240 
Precipitate, contents of the, in 
the wet method of analysis, 
64-71 

Preparatory instruction, 1—35 
Prism compass, the, 54 
hexagonal, 40 
tetragonal, 39 

Prospecting, mining, mineralogy, 
geology, glossary of terms used 
in connection with, 257-278 
Prospector, selection of a spot by 
the, for starting operations, 19 
Prospectors, lack of knowledge 

by, 1 

pointers, 255, 256 
Proustite, 119 
Psilomelane, 189, 190 
Pulverization for the dry method, 
73, 74 

Pyrargyrite, 119 
Pyrite. color of, 2 

mixture of gold with, 95 
Pyrites, arsenical, 160 
copper, 129, 130 
iron, 159, 160 

to separate gold in, 100- 
105 

gold in, detection of, 80 
tin, 147, 148 
variegated copper, 131 
Pyrolusite, 189 
Pyromorphite. 141, 142 
Pyropissate, 217 
Pyrrhotite, 171 

Q ualitative analysis of ores, 
59-77 



INDEX. 


289 


Quartz, auriferous, rule for ascer¬ 
taining the amount of gold 
in a lump of, 108, 109 
crystals, 40 
rocks, 96 

Quicksilver-bearing belt of Cali¬ 
fornia, 167, 168 
deposits at Almaden, Spain, 
167 

or mercury, 166-168 

T> EALGAR, 193 
-Lv Red copper ore, 128 
hematite, 156, 157 
©xide of zinc, 153 
silver ore, 119 
Reducing flame, 28 
Reef, 17 

Regent diamond, the, 225 
Resin opal, 232 
Resinous lustre, 7 
Resins, mineral, allied to ozocer¬ 
ite, 216, 217 
Retinite, 216, 217 
Retort, construction of a, 92, 93 
Rhode Island, graphite in, 199 
Rhodochrosite, 190 
Rhodium gold, Mexican, 80 
Right-hand theory, 20 
River, distance across a, to meas¬ 
ure, 52-54 

right hand branch of a, 
source of gold, 19, 20 
Rivers, wash of, 21 
Roasting, 29 
Rock, aqueous, 12, 15 
azoic, 9 
boring of, 250 
classification of, 12 
crystal, 234 

crystal, refraction of, 224 
igneous, 9, 12 
metamorphic, 12 
salt, 204 

section showing conditions 
under which gold is usually 
found in, 97 
Rocker, the, 84, 85 
Rocks, associated with minerals, 
necessity of learning the 
characteristics of, 9 

19 


Rocks, color of the, as a guide to 
the prospector, 21 
definition of, 12 
gold-bearing in Alaska, ex¬ 
tent of, 107, 108 
igneous, 13, 99 
metamorphic, 14, 98, 99 
ores, metals, etc., specific 
gravity of, 247-249 
relations of, one to another, 
13 

volcanic, 13 
Rubicelle, 227 

Rubies and sapphires, 225, 226 
Ruby, almandine, 227 
and sapphire, 45, 46 
balas, 227 
copper, 128 
East India, 226 
Hill mines, geology of, 125 
refraction of, 224 
silver, 119 
true, 184 

Rule for ascertaining the amount 
of gold in a lump of auriferous 
quartz, 108, 109 

S ALSES, 210 
Saltpetre, 204 
Sandstone, 15 

oil-bearing, fresh fracture of, 
208 

oil-bearing, tracing of, 208, 
209 

outcrops of oil in, 211 
Sandstones, examination of, 58 
Sapphire, 184 

and ruby, 45, 46 
Sapphires and rubies, 225, 226 
locality for, in the United 
States, 226 
Sard, 234 

Sardonyx or onyx, 235 
Satin spar, 200 
Scale of hardness, 4, 5 
Scales, 73 
Scorifiers. 71 

Scranton, W. H., report of, upon 
a magnetic survey, 162-165 
Screen, 90 

Sea water, gold in, 79 




290 


INDEX. 


Selenite, 200 
Sepiolite, 202 

Serpentine, asbestos in, 194 
Shale, 16 
Siderite, 158 

Silenium. detection of, 56 
Silicate of copper, 130 
Silky lustre, 7 
Sills, 18 
Silver, 115-126 

and gold ores, flux for, 15 

separation of, by the 
wet process, 75 
specific gravity of ores 
associated with, 247 
chemical test of, 115, 116 
glance, 117 
indication of, 56 
in galena, test for, 138, 139 
native, appearance of, 116 
behavior of, before the 
blow-pipe, 115 
determination of, 56 
properties of, 115 
ore, brittle, 118, 119 
red, 119 

ores, geology of, 120-126 
testing of, by the dry 
method, 74-76 
valuing, 120 

platinum, tellurium, 110-126 
principal source of, 116, 117 
sulphides, 117 
vegetation indicative of, 23 
Slate, 204 
Sluices, 86, 87 

Small conchoidal fracture, 3 
Smaltite, 169, 170, 181 
Smell, 6 t 

Smithsonite, 152 
Soapstone, 205 
Solid measure, 242 

French, 246 

South Africa, occurrence of the 
diamond in, 221, 222 
South Carolina, corundum in, 185 
Specific gravity, 7, 8 

how to find, 245 
of metals, ores, rocks, 
etc., 247-249 
weights by, 243-245 


Specimens, mineral, study of, 78 
Specular iron, streak of, 3, 4 
Specular ore, 156, 157 
Sperry lite, 112, 113 
Sphalerite, 153, 154 
Sparta, N. J., zinc mines, section 
of strata near, 154 
Spathic iron ore, 158 
Spinel, 227 
Splintery fracture, 3 
Stand-pipe, height of a, to meas¬ 
ure, 47-49 

Stannous chloride, preparation of, 
114 

Steatite, 205 
Stephanite, 118, 119 
Stibnite, 188 
Stone coal, 197 
Strata, 18 

contorted, section of, 10 
Streak, 3, 4 
Stream tin, 146 
Sub-conchoidal fracture, 3 
Sudbury, Canada, sources of 
nickel at, 171 
Sulphate of lead, 141 
Sulphide of mercury, 166 
tin, 147, 148 
zinc, 153, 154 

Sulphides, metallic, to separate 
gold in, 100-105 
Sulphur, 204 

Bank, Cal., 168 
detection of, 56 
indication of, 69 
Sunstone, 235 
Surface deposits, 18, 19 
measure, 242 

French, 246 
Surveying, 47-55 
Sussex Co., N. J., franklinite in, 
156 

Swampy puddles, examination of, 
for petroleum, 210 
Syenite granite, 16, 99 
Sylvanite, 110 

T alc, 205 

Taste, 6 

Technical mineralogy, 1-11 
Tellurides, value of, 111 




INDEX. 


291 


Tellurium, 110 
minerals, 110 
platinum, silver, 110-126 
Tennessee, manganese in, 190,191 
Tetragonal octahedron, 39 
prism, 39 
system, 38, 39 

illustrations of, 43 
Tetrahedrite, 129 
Texas, ozocerite in, 215 
Thomas’s Mountains, Utah, topaz 
found at. 45 
Tin, 145-151 

and lead, 138-151 
bearing mineral, testing of, 
145 . 

detection of, 57 
granites, 149 
metallic, indication of, 70 
minerals associated with, 
149, 150 

ore, assay of, 145, 146 

properties of, 146, 147 
testing of, 76 

ores in South Dakota, form 
of, 148 
oxide of, 146 
pyrites, 147, 148 
stone, associations of, 148,149 
sulphide of, 147, 148 
Titanium, detection of, 58 
Toad’s-eye tin, 146 
Ton weight, average cubic feet in 
a, 249 

Topaz, 44, 45, 227, 228 
oriental, 225 
Tourmaline, 231 

Tower, height of a, to measure, 
47-49 

Trachyte, 13 
Traps, 13 

Tree, height of a, to measure, 47-49 
Triclinic system, 42 
Trinidad, asphalt deposits in, 218 
Troy weight, 242 
Trumbull, Conn., topaz found at, 
45 , 

Turquois, 43, 232, 233 

U LTRAMARINE, 44 
Uneven fracture, 3 


United States, barytes in the, 194, 
195 

borax in the, 195 
consumption of plati¬ 
num in the, 112 
gem stones known to 
occur in the, list of. 
236, 237 

graphite in the, 199 
horizons in the, 
abounding in the 
useful minerals, 12 
infusorial earth in the, 
201 

localities in the, where 
diamonds have been 
found, 223 

locality for garnets in, 
230 

sapphires in 
the, 226 
turquois in, 
233 

ozocerite in the, 215 
Ural, diamonds in the, 222 
Uranium, detection of, 57, 58 
Utah, ozocerite in, 215 

V ARIEGATED copper pyrites, 
131 

Veins, metalliferous, association 
of ore in, 25 

Vermont, manganese in, 191 
Virginia, barytes in, 194 
manganese in, 190 
Vitreous copper, 128, 129 
lustre, 7 

Volcanic rocks, 13 

W AD, 188, 189 

Wash of rivers and creeks, 

21 , 22 

Water, refraction of, 224 
test for petroleum, 208 
Wax opal, 232 
Waxy lustre, 7 
Weighing, 73 
Weight, 242, 243 
French, 247 

Weights and measures, 241-249 






292 


INDEX. 


Weights by specific gravity, 243- 
245 

special, 245, 246 

West Virginia, petroleum in, 206 
Wet method of analysis, 59-71 
Whartonite, 172 

Wheel, Pelton, rule applicable to 
the, 249, 250 
Willemite, 153 
Witherite, 195 
Wolframite, 150, 151 
Wood tin, 146 
Wyoming, graphite in, 199 

tin mines, associations in, 147 


Y 


UKON gold district, 106 


Yokon gold district, derivation of 
gold in the, 106, 107 


Z INC, 152-155 

carbonate, 152 
chief ores of, 152-154 
detection of, 57 
geology of, 154, 155 
iron, 152-165 
red oxide of, 153 
silicate, 152, 153 
sulphide of, 153, 154 
vegetation indicative of, 23 
Zincite, 153 
Zinckenite, 142 
Zircon, the, 39, 229, 230 



STANDARD 


COLLECTION OF ORES 

REQUIRED FOR 

OSBORN’S PROSPECTOR’S FIELD BOOK AND GUIDE. 

An indispensable aid and guide to users of this book. 


GOLD. 

1. Gold in quartz. 

2. Gold ore, pyritiferons. 

SILVER. 

3. Native silver, wire. 

4. Native silver, in quartz. 

5. Argentite, glance. 

6. Stephanite, brittle silver. 

7. Cerargyrite, horn silver. 

8. Pyrargyrite, ruby silver. 

COPPER. 

9. Copper, native. 

10. Cuprite, red oxide. 

11. Chalcocite, copper glance. 

12. Tetrahedrite, gray copper. 

13. Chrysocolla, silicate. 

14. Cbalcopyrite, copper pyrites. 

15. Malachite, green carbonate. 

16. Azunte, blue carbonate 

17. Bornite, variegated pyrites. 

LEAD. 

18. Galena, sulphide, cube. 

19. “ granular, argentiferous. 

20. Cerussite, carbonate. 

21. Anglesite, sulphate. 

22. Pyromorphite, phosphate. 

TIN. 

23. Cassiterite, oxide, (cryst.). 

24. “ “ toad’s eye tin. 

25. “ “ stream tin. 

26. Stannite, sulphide. 

RARE METALS. 

27. Columbite. 

28. Wolframite. 

29. Rutile. 

30. Zircon, tetragonal. 

31. Platinum. 

ZINC. 

32. Smithsonite, carbonate. 

33. Calamine, silicate. 

34. Zincite, oxide. 

35. Sphalerite, sulphide. 

IRON. 

36. Iron, meteoric. 

37. Magnetite, oxide, granular. 

88. “ lodestone. 

39. Franklinite. 

40. Hematite, (cryst.). 

41 . “ specular ore. 

42. Limonite, brown ore. 


43. Siderite, spathic ore. 

44. Chromite, chromic ore. 

45. Pyrite, sulphide, octahedral. 

46. “ massive. 

47. Arsenopyrite, mispickel. 

MERCURY, ETC. 

48. Cinnabar, mercury sulphide. 

49. Bismuth. 

NICKEL AND COBALT. 

50. Smaltite, arsenide. 

51. Niccolite, nickel arsenide. 

52. Millerite, nickel sulphide. 

53. Pyrrhotite, niccoliferous pyrite. 

54. Cobaltite, sulph-arsenide. 

55. Garnierite, nickel silicate. 

56. Asbolite. cobalt oxide. 

ALUMINIUM. 

57. Corundum, (crystal) oxide. 

58. “ emery, oxide. 

59. Cryolite, fluoride. 

60. Bauxite, hydrate. 

ANTIMONY AND MANGANESE. 

61. Stibnite, antimony sulphide. 

62. Wad, bog manganese. 

63. Pyrolusite, oxide. 

64. Psilomelane, oxide. 

65. Rhodochrosite, carbonate. 

OTHER USEFUL MINERALS. 

66. Apatite, hexagonal. 

67. “ phosphate rock. 

68. Arsenic, native. 

69. Realgar, red arsenic sulphide. 

70. Orpiment, yellow arsenic sul- 
. phide. 

71. Dolomite, rhombohedral. 

72. “ massive. 

73. Orthoclase, feldspar, monoclinic. 

74. “ “ cleavage. 

75. Mi crocline, triclinic. 

76. Fluorite, cubic. 

77. “ massive. 

78. Quartz, hexagonal. 

79. Calcite, dog-tooth spar. 

80. “ rhombohedral cleavage. 

81. Graphite, plumbago. 

82. Gypsum, plaster. 

83. “ selenite. 

84. Barite, orthorhombic. 

85. Celestite. 

86. Muscovite, mica. 

87. Molybdenite. 

88. Halite, rock salt. 





89. Sulphur, native. 

90. Borax, monoclinic. 

91. Alunite, alum stone. 

92. Taic, soapstone. 

93. Petroleum. 

94. Anthracite coal. 

95. Bituminous coal. 

96. Cannel coal. 

97. Elaterite, elastic bitumen. 

98. Asphaltum. 

99. Ozocerite. 

100. Diamond. 

101. Emerald. 

102. Topaz, orthorhombic. 

103. Garnet, dodecahedral. 

104. Opal, precious. 

105. Turquois. 


ROCKS. 

106. Trachyte. 

107. Basalt. 

108. Greenstone. 

109. Obsidian. 

110. Gneiss. 

111. Mica schist. 

112. Granite. 

113. Porphyry. 

114. Syenite. 

115. Sandstone. 

116. Quartzose conglomerate. 

117. Limestone, coarse. 

118. “ lithographic. 

119. Shale. 

120. Chloritic schist. 


This list includes all important minerals mentioned in the text, besides 
illustrating the Scale of Hardness and the six systems of Crystallization. 

In selecting specimens from our large stock, a collection is secured which 
represent*, in a brief way, the varieties with which the prospector or miner 
is most likely to meet, and it has, therefore, a thoroughly practical value. 

The following sizes are kept in stock ready for shipment. With the neat 
and durable oak cases they can be kept in small space. Every specimen is 
accurately labeled with name, composition and locality, and numbered to 
correspond to list. 

No. 23. Prospectors’, $16.00. 120specimens,averaging2%x2in. Hand¬ 
some oak case, three drawers, fitted with pasteboard trays, $6.50 extra. 

No. 24. Prospectors’, $7.00. 120 specimens, averaging 134x134 in. Oak 
compartment case, $1 60 extra. 


The following special sets of ores are put up to order: 

No. 25. Useful Metallic and Non-Metallic Minerals 300 specimens, 
averaging 23^x2 in.. $125.00. Includes various examples of all important min¬ 
erals possessing economic value. 

No. 27. Metallurgical Collection. 200 specimens, averaging 2%x2 in., 
$75.00. Embracing all the more important ores of common, rare or precious 
metals. 

No. 29. Metallurgical Collection. 100 specimens, averaging 234x2 in., 
$25.00. An abridgement of No. 27. 

No 32 Ore Associations. 60 specimens averaging 2%x2 in., $12.00. 
Including all of the minerals most commonly found with valuable ores. 

The above are sold in 134 inch sizes at about half price. 

No. 34. Gold ores. 10 specimens, averaging 13^x134 in., $10.00. 

No. 35. Silver ores. 15 specimens, averaging 134x134 in., $7.50. 

Also series illustrating occurrence of Iron, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Nickel 
and Cobalt, and the Rare Elements ; Rough Gems and Precious Stones. 

64 pp. Collection Catalogue Free. Prices of above and other useful sets. 

126 pp. Illustrated Catalogue Free Collections and Single Cabinet Speci¬ 
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186pp. Complete Mineral Catalogue. Includes above catalogues; valuable 
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Classification and other valuable lists. Paper bound, 25 cts.; Cloth, 50 cts. 


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LL. D., Q. C. F. R. A. S. With 
Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 

$ 2 -2C 



4 


HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


BELL.—Carpentry Made Easy: 

Or, The Science and Art of Framing on a New and Improved 
System. With Specific Instructions for Building Balloon Frames, Barn 
Frames, Mill Frames, Warehouses, Church Spires, etc. Comprising 
also a System of Bridge Building, with Bills, Estimates of Cost, and 
valuable Tables. Illustrated by forty-four plates, comprising nearly 


200 figures. By William E. Bell, Architect and Practical Builder. 

8vo.. $ 5.00 

BEMROSE.—Fret-Cutting and Perforated Carving: 

With fifty-three practical illustrations. By W. Bemrose, Jr. 1 vol. 

quarto.#2.53 

BEMROSE.—Manual of Buhl-work and Marquetry: 

With Practical Instructions for Learners, and ninety colored designs. 
By W. Bemrose, Jr. i vol. quarto .... $3.00 

BEMROSE.—Manual of Wood Carving: 


With Practical Illustrations for Learners of the Art, and Original and 
Selected Designs. By William Bemrose, Jr. With an Intro¬ 
duction by Llewellyn Jewitt, F. S. A., etc. With 128 illustra¬ 
tions, 4to... #2.50 

BILLINGS.—Tobacco: 

Its History, Variety, Culture, Manufacture, Commerce, and Various 
Modes of Use. By E. R. Billings. Illustrated by nearly 200 
engravings. 8vo. ........ #3.00 

BIRD.—The American Practical Dyers’ Companion: 

Comprising a Description of the Principal Dye-Stuffs and Chemicals 
used in Dyeing, their Natures and Uses; Mordants, and How Made; 
with the best American, English, French and German processes for 
Bleaching and Dyeing Silk, Wool, Cotton, Linen, Flannel, Felt. 
Dress Goods, Mixed and Hosiery Yarns, Feathers, Grass, Felt, Fur) 
Wool, and Straw Hats, Jute Yarn, Vegetable Ivory, Mats, Skins, 
Furs, Leather, etc., etc. By Wood, Aniline, and other Processes, 
together with Remarks on Finishing Agents, and Instructions in the 
Finishing of Fabrics, Substitutes for Indigo, Water-Proofing of 
Materials, Tests and Purification of Water, Manufacture of Aniline 
and other New Dye Wares, Harmonizing Colors, etc., etc.; embrac¬ 
ing in all over 800 Receipts for Colors and Shades, accompanied by 
170 Dyed Samples of Ra 7 v Materials and Fabrics. By F. J. Bird, 
Practical Dyer, Author of “ The Dyers’ Hand-Book.” 8vo. $ 10.00 

BLINN.—A Practical Workshop Companion for Tin, Sheet- 
Iron, and Copper-plate Workers : 

Containing Rules for describing various kinds of Patterns used by 
Tin, Sheet-Iron and Copper-plate Workers; Practical Geometry; 
Mensuration of Surfaces and Solids; Tables of the Weights of 
Metals, Lead-pipe, etc.; Tables of Areas and Circumference# 
of Circles; Japan, Varnishes, Lackers, Cements, Compositions, etc., 
etc. By Leroy J. Blinn, Master Mechanic. With One Hundred 
and Seventy Illustrations. 121110. ..... $ 2.^0 






HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


5 


BOOTH.—Marble Worker’s Manual: 

Containing Practical Information respecting Marbles in general, theii 
Cutting, Working and Polishing; Veneering of Marble; Mosaics; 
Composition and Use of Artificial Marble, Stuccos, Cements, Receipts, 
Secrets, etc., etc. Translated from the French by M. L. Booth. 
With an Appendix concerning American Marbles. i2mo., cloth $1.50 
BOOTH and MORFIT.—The Encyclopaedia of Chemistry, 
Practical and Theoretical: 

Embracing its application to the Arts, Metallurgy, Mineralogy, 
Geology, Medicine and Pharmacy. By James C. Booth, Melter 
and Refiner in the United States Mint, Professor of Applied Chem¬ 
istry in the Franklin Institute, etc., assisted by Campbell Morfit, 
author of “ Chemical Manipulations,” etc. Seventh Edition. Com¬ 
plete in one volume, royal 8vo., 978 pages, with numerous wood-cuts 
and other illustrations . . . . . . $3-5° 

BRAMWELL.-The Wool Carder’s Vade-Mecum, 

A Complete Manual of the Art of Carding Textile Fabrics. By W. 
C. Bramwell. Third Edition, revised and enlarged. Illustrated. 
Pp. 400. i2mo.$2.50 

BRANNT.—A Practical Treatise on Animal and Vegetable 
Fats and Oils: 

Comprising both Fixed and Volatile Oils, their Physical and Chem¬ 
ical Properties and Uses, the Manner of Extracting and Refining 
them, and Practical Rules for Testing them; as well as the Manufac¬ 
ture of Artificial Butter and Lubricants, etc., with lists of American 
Patents relating to the Extraction, Rendering, Refining, Decomposing, 
and Bleaching of Fats and Oils. By William T. Brannt, Editor 
of the “ Techno-Chemical Receipt Book.” Second Edition, Revised 
and in a great part Rewritten. Illustrated by 302 Engravings. In 

Two Volumes. 1304 pp. 8vo.#10.00 

BRANNT.—A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Soap 
and Candles: 

Based upon the most Recent Experiences in the Practice and Science; 
comprising the Chemistry, Raw Materials, Machinery, and Utensils 
and Various Processes of Manufacture, including a great variety of 
formulas. Edited chiefly from the German of Dr. C. Deite, A. 
Engelhardt, Dr. C. Schaedler and others; with additions and lists 
of American Patents relating to these subjects. By Wm. T. Brannt. 
Illustrated by 163 engravings. 677 pages. 8vo. . . #7.50 

BRANNT.—A Practical Treatise on the Raw Materials and the 
Distillation and Rectification of Alcohol, and the Prepara¬ 
tion of Alcoholic Liquors, Liqueurs, Cordials, Bitters, etc.: 
Edited chiefly from the German of Dr. K. Stammer, Dr. F. Eisner, 
and E. Schubert. By Wm. T. Brannt. Illustrated by thirty-one 
engravings. ..#3-5° 



6 


HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


BRANNT—WAHL.—The Techno-Chemical Receipt Boos?j 

Containing several thousand Receipts covering the latest, most *15 
portant, and most useful discoveries in Chemical Technology, ant 
their Practical Application in the Arts and the Industries. Edited 
chiefly from the German of Drs. Winckler, Eisner, Heintze, Mier 
zinski, Jacobsen, Roller, and Heinzerling, with additions by Wm. T. 
Brannt and Wm. H. Wahl, Ph. D. Illustrated by 78 engravings, 
l2mo. 495 pages . . . .... $2.o <3 

BROWN.—Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements: 
Embracing all those which are most important in Dynamics, Hy¬ 
draulics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Steam-Engines, Mill and other 
Gearing, Presses, Horology and Miscellaneous Machinery; and in¬ 
cluding many movements never before published, and several of 
which have only recently come into use. By Henry T. Brown, 

i2mo.$1.00 

BUCKMASTER.—The Elements of Mechanical Physics : 

By J. C. Buckmaster. Illustrated with numerous engravings. 

i2mo.#1.00 

BULLOCK.—The American Cottage Builder : 

A Series of Designs, Plans and Specifications, from $20t> to $20,000, 
for Homes for the People; together with Warming, Ventilation, 
Drainage, Painting and Landscape Gardening. By John Bullock, 
Architect and Editor of “ The Rudiments of Architecture and 
Building,” etc., etc. Illustrated by 75 engravings. 8vo. #2.50 

BULLOCK.—The Rudiments of Architecture and Building: 
For the use of Architects, Builders, Draughtsmen, Machinists, En¬ 
gineers and Mechanics. Edited by John Bullock, author of “ The 
American Cottage Builder.” Illustrated by 250 Engravings. 8vo. $2.50 
BURGH.—Practical Rules for the Proportions of Modern 

Engines and Boilers for Land and Marine Purposes. 

By N. P. Burgh, Engineer. i2mo. . . $1.50 

BYLES.—Sophisms of Free Trade and Popular Political 
Economy Examined. 

By a Barrister (Sir John Barnard Byles, Judge of Common 
Pleas). From the Ninth English Edition, as published by the 
Manchester Reciprocity Association. i2mo. . . . $1.25 

BOWMAN.—The Structure of the Wool Fibre in its Relation 
to the Use of Wool for Technical Purposes: 

Being the substance, with additions, of Five Lectures, delivered at 
the request of the Council, to the members of the Bradford Technical 
College, and the Society of Dyers and Colorists. By F. H. Bow¬ 
man, D. Sc., F. R. S. E., F. L. S. Illustrated by 32 engravings. 

8vo .$5.00 

BYRNE.—Hand-Book for the Artisan, Mechanic, and Engi¬ 
neer : 

Comprising the Grinding and Sharpening of Cutting Tools, Abia-.ve 
Processes, Lapidary Work, Gem and Glass Engraving, Varnishing 
and Lackering, Apparatus, Materials and Processes for Grinding and 





HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


7 


Polishing, etc. By Oliver Byrne. Illustrated by 185 wood tr- 

gravings. 8vo.#5.0*. 

BYRNE.—Pocket-Book for Railroad and Civil Engineers: 
Containing New, Exact and Concise Methods for Laying out Railroad 
Curves, Switches, Frog Angles and Crossings; the Staking out of 
work; Levelling; the Calculation of Cuttings; Embankments; Earth¬ 
work, etc. By Oliver Byrne. i8mo., full bound, pocket-book 

form.$1.50 

BYRNE.—The Practical Metal-Worker’s Assistant: 

Comprising Metallurgic Chemistry; the Arts of Working all Metals 
and Alloys; Forging of Iron and Steel; Hardening and Tempering; 
Melting and Mixing; Casting and Founding ; Works in Sheet Metal; 
the Processes Dependent on the Ductility of the Metals; Soldering; 
and the most Improved Processes and Tools employed by Metal- 
Workers. With the Application of the Art of Electro-Metallurgy to 
Manufacturing Processes; collected from Original Sources, and from 
the works of Holtzapffel, Bergeron, Leupold, Piumier, Napier, 
Scoffern, Clay, Fairbairn and others. By Oliver Byrne. A new, 
revised and improved edition, to which is added an Appendix, con¬ 
taining The Manufacture of Russian Sheet-Iron. By John Percy, 
M. D., F. R. S. The Manufacture of Malleable Iron Castings, and 
Improvements in Bessemer Steel. By A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and 
Engineer. With over Six Hundred Engravings, Illustrating every 

Branch of the Subject. 8vo.$5.00 

BYRNE.—The Practical Model Calculator: 

For the Engineer, Mechanic, Manufacturer of Engine Work, Naval 
Architect, Miner and Millwright. By Oliver Byrne. 8vo., nearly 

600 pages ..#3 00 

CABINET MAKER’S ALBUM OF FURNITURE; 
Comprising a Collection of Designs for various Styles of Furniture. 
Illustrated by Forty-eight Large and Beautifully Engraved Plates. 

Oblong, 8vo. ........ #1.50 

CALLINGHAM.—Sign Writing and Glass Embossing: 

A Complete Practical Illustrated Manual of the Art. By James 

Callingham. i2mo.$i- 5 ° 

CAMPIN.—A Practical Treatise on Mechanical Engineering: 
Comprising Metallurgy, Moulding, Casting, Forging, Tools, Work, 
shop Machinery, Mechanical Manipulation, Manufacture of Steam- 
Engines, etc. With an Appendix on the Analysis of Iron and Iron 
Ores. By Francis Campin, C. E. To which are added, Observations 
on the Construction of Steam Boilers, and Remarks upon Furnaces 
used for Smoke Prevention; with a Chapter on Explosions. By R, 
Armstrong, C. E., and John Bourne. Rules for Calculating the 
Change Wheels for Screws on a Turning Lathe, and for a Wheel¬ 
cutting Machine. By J. La Nicca. Management of Steel, Includ¬ 
ing Forging, Hardening, Tempering, Annealing, Shrinking and 
Expansion ; and the Case-hardening of Iron. By G. Edf. 8vo. 
Illustrated with twenty-nine plates and 100 wood engravings $ 5-00 






HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


a 


CAREY.—A Memoir of Henry C. Carey. 

By Dr. Wm. Elder. With a portrait. 8vo., cloth . . 7 j 

CAREY.—The Works of Henry C. Carey : 

Harmony of Interests : Agricultural, Manufacturing and Commer¬ 


cial. 8vo. ...... • $1.25. 

Manual of Social Science. Condensed from Carey’s “ Principles 
of Social Science.” By Kate McKean, i vol. i2mo. . #2.00 

Miscellaneous Works. With a Portrait. 2 vols. 8vo. #10.00 

Past, Present and Future. 8vo.#2.50 

Principles of Social Science. 3 volumes, 8vo. . . #7.50 

The Slave-Trade, Domestic and Foreign; Why it Exists, and 
How it may be Extinguished (1853). 8vo. . . . #2.00 

The Unity of Law: As Exhibited in the Relations of Physical,. 
Social, Mental and Moral Science (1872). 8vo. . . #2.5(1 


CLARK.—Tramways, their Construction and Working : 

Embracing a Comprehensive History of the System. With an ex 
haustive analysis of the various modes of traction, including horse¬ 
power, steam, heated water and compressed air; a description of the 
varieties of Rolling stock, and ample details of cost and working ex¬ 
penses. By D. Kinnear Clark. Illustrated by over 200 wood 
engravings, and thirteen folding plates. I vol. 8vo. . #7.50 

COLBURN.—The Locomotive Engine : 

Including a Description of its Structure, Rules for Estimating its 
Capabilities, and Practical Observations on its Construction and Man 
agement. By Zer AH COLBURN. Illustrated. i2mo. . #1.00 

COLLENS.—The Eden of Labor; or, the Christian Utopia. 

By T. Wharton Collens, author of “ Humanics,” “The History 
of Charity,” etc. i2mo. Paper cover, # 1.00; Cloth . #1.25. 

COOLEY.—A Complete Practical Treatise on Perfumery: 

Being a Hand-book of Perfumes, Cosmetics and other Toilet Articles. 
With a Comprehensive Collection of Formulae. By Arnold J 

Cooley. i2mo.#1.50 

COOPER.—A Treatise on the use of Belting for the Trans 
mission of Power. 

With numerous illustrations of approved and actual methods of ar 
ranging Main Driving and Quarter Twist Belts, and of Belt Fasten, 
ings. Examples and Rules in great number for exhibiting and cal 
culating the size and driving power of Belts. Plain, Particular and 
Practical Directions for the Treatment, Care and Management o 
Belts. Descriptions of many •varieties of Beltings, together witn. 
chapters on the Transmission of Power by Ropes; by Iron and 
Wood Frictional Gearing; on the Strength of Belting Leather; and 
on the Experimental Investigations of Morin, Briggs, and others. By 

John H. Cooper, M. E. 8vo .#3.5c 

CRAIK.—The Practical American Millwright and MMler. 

By David Craik, Millwright. Illustrated by numerous wood en 
gravings and two folding plates. 8vo. .... # 3-50 





HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


9 


CROSS.—The Cotton Yarn Spinner : 

Showing how the Preparation should be arranged for Different 
Counts of Yarns by a System more uniform than has hitherto been 
practiced; by having a Standard Schedule from which we make all 
our Changes. By Richard Cross. 122 pp. i2mo. . 75 

CRISTIANI.—A Technical Treatise on Soap and Candles: 

With a Glance at the Industry of Fats and Oils. By R. S. Cris- 
TIANI, Chemist. Author of “ Perfumery and Kindred Arts.” Illus¬ 
trated by 176 engravings. 581 pages, 8vo. . . . #15.00 

COAL AND METAL MINERS’ POCKET BOOK: 

Of Principles, Rules, Formulae, and Tables, Specially Compiled 
and Prepared for the Convenient Use of Mine Officials, Mining En¬ 
gineers, and Students preparing themselves for Certificates of Compe¬ 
tency as Mine Inspectors or Mine Foremen. Revised and Enlarged 
edition. Illustrated, 565 pages, small i2mo., cloth. . $ 2.00 

Pocket book form, flexible leather with flap . . $2.75 

DAVIDSON.—A Practical Manual of House Painting, Grain¬ 
ing, Marbling, and Sign-Writing: 

Containing full information on the processes of House Painting in 
Oil and Distemper, the Formation of Letters and Practice of Sign- 
Writing, the Principles of Decorative Art, a Course of Elementary 
Drawing for House Painters, Writers, etc., and a Collection of Useful 
Receipts. With nine colored illustrations of Woods and Marbles, 
and numerous wood engravings. By Ellis A. Davidson. i2mo. 

$2.00 

DAVIES.—A Treatise on Earthy and Other Minerals and 
Mining: 

By D. C. Davies, F. G. S., Mining Engineer, etc. Illustrated by 
76 Engravings. l2mo. . . . . . . . #5 oo 

DAVIES.—A Treatise on Metalliferous Minerals and Mining: 
By D. C. Davies, F. G. S , Mining Engineer, Examiner of Mines, 
Quarries and Collieries. Illustrated by 148 engravings of Geological 
formations, Mining Operations and Machinery, drawn from the 
practice of all parts of the world. Fifth Edition, thoroughly Revised 
and much Enlarged by his son, E. Henry Davies. i2mo., 524 
pages ....... • # 5 0(> 

DAVIES.—A Treatise on Slate and Slate Quarrying: 

Scientific, Practical and Commercial. By D C. Davies, F. G. S, 
Mining Engineer, etc. With numerous illustrations and folding 
plates. I2mo $2.00 

DAVIS.—A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Brick, 
Tiles and Terra-Cotta : 

Including Stiff Clay, Dry Clay, Hand Made, Pressed or Front, and 
Roadway Paving Brick, Enamelled Brick, with Glazes and Colors,. 
Fire Brick and Blocks, Silica Brick, Carbon Brick, Glass Pots, Re- 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


torts, Architectural Terra-Cotta, Sewer Pipe, Drain Tile, Glazed and 
Unglazed Roofing Tile, Art Tile, Mosaics, and Imitation of Intarsia 
or Inlaid Surfaces. Comprising every product of Clay employed in 
Architecture, Engineering, and the Blast Furnace. With a Detailed 
Description of the Different Clays employed, the Most Modern 
Machinery, Tools, and Kilns used, and the Processes for Handling, 
Disintegrating, Tempering, and Moulding the Clay into Shape, Dry¬ 
ing, Setting, and Burning. By Charles Thomas Davis. Third Edi¬ 
tion. Revised and in great part rewritten. Illustrated by 261 
engravings. 662 pages ....... $5-00 

DAVIS.—A Treatise on Steam-Boiler Incrustation and Meth¬ 
ods for Preventing Corrosion and the Formation of Scale: 
By Charles T. Davis. Illustrated by 65 engravings. 8vo. #2.00 
DAVIS.—The Manufacture of Paper: 

Being a Description of the various Processes for the Fabrication, 
Coloring and Finishing of every kind of Paper, Including the Dif¬ 
ferent Raw Materials and the Methods for Determining their Values, 
the Tools, Machines and Practical Details connected with an intelli¬ 
gent and a profitable prosecution of the art, with special reference to 
the best American Practice. To which are added a History of Pa¬ 
per, complete Lists of Paper-Making Materials, List of American 
Machines, Tools and Processes used in treating the Raw Materials, 
and in Making, Coloring and Finishing Paper. By Charles T. 
Davis. Illustrated by 156 engravings. 608 pages, 8vo. #6.00 
DAVIS.—The Manufacture of Leather: 

Being a Description of all the Processes for the Tanning and Tawing 
with Bark, Extracts, Chrome and all Modern Tannages in General 
Use, and the Currying, Finishing and Dyeing of Every Kind of Leather; 
Including the Various Raw Materials, the Tools, Machines, and all 
Details of Importance Connected with an Intelligent and Profitable 
Prosecution of the Art, with Special Reference to the Best American 
Practice. To which are added Lists of American Patents (1884-1897) 
for Materials, Processes, Tools and Machines for Tanning, Currying, 
etc. By Charles Thomas Davis. Second Edition, Revised, and 
in great part Rewritten. Illustrated by 147 engravings and 14 Sam¬ 
ples of Quebracho Tanned and Aniline Dyed Leathers. 8vo, cloth, 

712 pages. Price. $ 7 - 5 ° 

DAWIDOWSKY—BRANNT.—A Practical Treatise on the 
Raw Materials and Fabrication of Glue, Gelatine, Gelatine 
Veneers and Foils, Isinglass, Cements, Pastes, Mucilages, 
etc.: 

Based upon Actual Experience. By F. Dawidowsky, Technical 
Chemist. Translated from the German, with extensive additions, 
including a description of the most Recent American Processes, by 
William T. Brannt, Graduate of the Royal Agricultural College 
of Eldena, Prussia. 35 Engravings. i2mo. . . . $2.50 

DE GRAFF.—The Geometrical Stair-Builders’ Guide: 

Being a Plain Practical System of Hand-Railing, embracing all its 
necessary Details, and Geometrically Illustrated by twenty-two Steel 
Engravings; together with the use of the most approved principle 
of Practical Geometry. By Simon De Graff, Architect. ^to. 

$ 2 .CO 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


n 


DE KONINCK—DIETZ.—A Practical Manual of Chemical 
Analysis and Assaying: 

As applied to the Manufacture of Iron from its Ores, and to Cast Iron, 
Wrought Iron, and Steel, as found in Commerce. By L. L. De 
Koninck, Dr. Sc., and E. Dietz, Engineer. Edited with Notes, by 
Robert Mallet, F. R. S., F. S. G., M. I. C. E., etc. American 
Edition, Edited with Notes and an Appendix on Iron Ores, by A. A, 
Fesquet, Chemist and Engineer. i2mo. . . . #1.50 

DCJNCAN.— Practical Surveyor’s Guide: 

Containing the necessary information to make any person of com* 
mon capacity, a finished land surveyor without the aid of a teacher 
By Andrew Duncan. Revised. 72 engravings, 2,14 pp. i2mo. $1.50 
DLJPLAIS.—A Treatise on the Manufacture and Distillation 
of Alcoholic Liquors: 

Comprising Accurate and Complete Details in Regard to Alcohol 
from Wine, Molasses, Beets, Grain, Rice, Potatoes, Sorghum, Aspho 
del, Fruits, etc.; with the Distillation and Rectification of Brandy. 
Whiskey, Rum, Gin, Swiss Absinthe, etc., the Preparation of Aro¬ 
matic Waters, Volatile Oils or Essences, Sugars, Syrups, Aromatic 
Tinctures, Liqueurs, Cordial Wines, Effervescing Wines, etc., the 
Ageing of Brandy and the improvement of Spirits, with Copiow 
Directions and Tables for Testing and Reducing Spirituous Liquors, 
etc>„ etc. Translated and Edited from the French of MM. Duplais, 
Aine et Jeune. By M. McKennie, M. D. To which are added the 
United States Internal Revenue Regulations for the Assessment and 
Collection of Taxes on Distilled Spirits. Illustrated by fourteen 
folding plates and several wood engravings. 743 pp. 8vo. #15.00 
DUSSAUCE.—Practical Treatise on the Fabrication of Matches, 
Gun Cotton, and Fulminating Powder. 

By Professor H. Dussauce. i2mo. .... 

DYER AND COLOR-MAKER’S COMPANION: 

Containing upwards of two hundred Receipts for making Colors, on 
the most approved principles, for all the various styles and fabrics now 
in existence; with the Scouring Process, and plain Directions for 
Preparing, Washing-ofF, and Finishing the Goods. i2mo. #1.00 
EDWARDS.—A Catechism of the Marine Steam-Engine, 

For the use of Engineers, Firemen, and Mechanics. A Practical 
Work for Practical Men. By Emory Edwards, Mechanical Engi¬ 
neer. Illustrated by sixty-three Engravings, including examples of 
the most modern Engines. Third edition, thoroughly revised, with 
much additional matter. 12 mo. 414 pages . . . $2 00 

EDWARDS.—Modern American Locomotive Engines, 

Their Design, Construction and Management. By Emory Edwards 
Illustrated ..#2.00 

EDWARDS.—The American Steam Engineer: 

Theoretical and Practical, with examples of the latest and most ap¬ 
proved American practice in the design and construction of Steam 
Engines and Boilers. For the use of engineers, machinists, boiler- 
un^kers, and engineering students. By Emory Edwards. Fully 
illustrated, 419 pages. i2mo. • $2.50 





12 


HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


EDWARDS.—Modern American Marine Engines, Boilers, ant 
Screw Propellers, 

Their Design and Construction. Showing the Present Practice ot 
the most Eminent Engineers and Marine Engine Builders in the 
United States. Illustrated by 30 large and elaborate plates. 4to. $5.00 
-EDWARDS.—The Practical Steam Engineer’s Guide 

In the Design, Construction, and Management of American Stationary. 
Portable, and Steam Fire-Engines, Steam Pumps, Boilers, Injector** 
Governors, Indicators, Pistons and Rings, Safety Valves and Steam 
Gauges. For the use of Engineers, Firemen, and Steam Users. B> 
Emory Edwards. Illustrated by 119 engravings. A20 pages. 
i2mo. .......... $2 50 

EISSLER.—The Metallurgy of Gold: 

A Practical Treatise on the Metallurgical Treatment of Gold-Bear¬ 
ing Ores, including the Processes of Concentration and Chlorination, 
and the Assaying, Melting, and Refining of Gold. By M. Eissler. 
With 132 Illustrations. i2mo. ..... #5.00 

EISSLER.—The Metallurgy of Silver : 

A Practical Treatise on the Amalgamation, Roasting, and Lixiviation 
of Silver Ores, including the Assaying, Melting, and Refining of 
Silver Bullion. By M. Eissler. 124 Illustrations. 336 pp. 
i2mo. .......... $4.25 

ELDER.—Conversations on the Principal Subjects of Political 
Economy. 

By Dr. William Elder. 8vo.#2.50 

ELDER.—Questions of the Day, 

Economic and Social. By Dr. William Elder. 8vo. . $ 3.00 

ERNI.—Mineralogy Simplified. 

Easy Methods of Determining and Classifying Minerals, including 
Ores, by means of the Blowpipe, and by Humid Chemical Analysis, 
based on Professor von Kobell’s Tables for the Determination of 
Minerals, with an Introduction to Modern Chemistry. By Henry 
Erni, A.M., M.D., Professor of Chemistry. Second Edition, rewritten, 
enlarged and improved. i2mo. ..... 
FAIRBAIRN.—The Principles of Mechanism and Machinery 
of Transmission • 

Comprising the Principles of Mechanism, Wheels, and Pulleys, 
Strength and Proportions of Shafts, Coupling of Shafts, and Engag¬ 
ing and Disengaging Gear. By SiR William Fairbairn, Bait 
C. E. Beautifully illustrated by over 150 wood-cuts. In one 

volume. i2mo.. $2.00 

FLEMING.—Narrow Gauge Railways in America. 

A Sketch of their Rise, Progress, and Success. Valuable Statistics 
as to Grades, Curves, Weight of Rail, Locomotives, Cars, etc. By 

Howard Fleming. Illustrated, 8vo.|i og 

FORSYTH.—Book of Designs for Heacstones, Mural, and 
other Monuments: 

Containing 78 Designs. By James Forsyth. With an Introduction 
by Charles Boutell, M. A. 4 to., cloth . . $3.50 






HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. *3 


FRANKEL—HUTTER.—A Practical Treatise on the Manu* 
facture of Starch, Glucose, Starch-Sugar, and Dextrine: 

Based on the German of Ladislaus Von Wagner, Professor in the 
Royal Technical High School, Buda-Pest, Hungary, and other 
authorities. By Julius Frankel, Graduate of the Polytechnic 
School of Hanover. Edited by Robert Hutter, Chemist, Practical 
Manufacturer of Starch-Sugar. Illustrated by 58 engravings, cover¬ 
ing every branch of the subject, including examples of the most 
Recent and Best American Machinery. 8vo., 344 pp. . #3.50 

GARDNER.—The Painter’s Encyclopaedia: 

Containing Definitions of all Important Words in the Art of Plain 
and Artistic Painting, with Details of Practice in Coach, Carriage, 
Railway Car, House, Sign, and Ornamental Painting, including 
Graining, Marbling, Staining, Varnishing, Polishing, Lettering, 
Stenciling, Gilding, Bronzing, etc. By Franklin B. Gardner. 

158 Illustrations. l2mo. 427 pp.#2.00 

GARDNER.—Everybody’s Paint Book: 

A Complete Guide to the Art of Outdoor and Indoor Painting, De¬ 
signed for the Special Use of those who wish to do their own work, 
and consisting of Practical Lessons in Plain Painting, Varnishing, 
Polishing, Staining, Paper Hanging, Kalsomining, etc., as well as 
Directions for Renovating Furniture, and Hints on Artistic Work for 
Home Decoration. 38 Illustrations. i2mo., 183 pp. . $1.00 

GEE.—The Goldsmith’s Handbook : 

Containing full instructions for the Alloying and Working of Gold, 
including the Art of Alloying, Melting, Reducing, Coloring, Col¬ 
lecting, and Refining; the Processes of Manipulation, Recovery of 
Waste; Chemical and Physical Properties of Gold; with a New 
System of Mixing its Alloys; Solders, Enamels, and other Useful 
Rules and Recipes. By George E. Gee. i2mo. c . $1.25 

GEE.—The Silversmith’s Handbook : 

Containing full instructions for the Alloying and Working of Silver, 
including the different modes of Refining and Melting the Metal; its 
Solders; the Preparation of Imitation Alloys; Methods of Manipula¬ 
tion ; Prevention of Waste ; Instructions for Improving and Finishing 
the Surface of the Work; together with other Useful Information and 
Memoranda. By George E. Gee. Illustrated. i2mo. 81.25 
GOTHIC ALBUM FOR CABINET-MAKERS: 

Designs for Gothic Furniture. Twenty-three plates. Oblong $1.5° 
3 RANT.—A Handbook on the Teeth of Gears : 

Their Curves, Properties, and Practical Construction. By George 
B. Grant. Illustrated. Third Edition, enlarged. 8vo. $1 00 

GREENWOOD.—Steel and Iron: 

Comprising the Practice and Theory of the Several Methods Pur¬ 
sued in their Manufacture, and of their Treatment in the Rolling- 
Mills, the Forge, and the Foundry. By William Henry Green* 
WOOD, F. C. S. With 97 Diagrams, 536 pages. i2mo. 82.00 




14 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


GREGORY.—Mathematics for Practical Men: 

Adapted to the Pursuits of Surveyors, Architects, Mechanics, and' 
Civil Engineers. By Olinthus Gregory. 8vo., plates $3 .oa 

GRISWOLD.—Railroad Engineer’s Pocket Companion for tht 
Field: 

Comprising Rules for Calculating Deflection Distances and Angles, 
Tangential Distances and Angles, and all Necessary Tables for En 
gineers; also the Art of Levelling from Preliminary Survey to the 
Construction of Railroads, intended Expressly for the Young En¬ 
gineer, together with Numerous Valuable Rules and Examples. By 

W. Griswold. i2mo„ tucks.$1.50 

GRUNER.—Studies of Blast Furnace Phenomena: 

By M. L. Gruner, President of the General Council of Mines oi 
France, and lately Professor of Metallurgy at the Ecole des Mines. 
Translated, with the author’s sanction, with an appendix, by L. D. 
B. Gordon, F. R. S. E., F. G. S. 8vo. . . . $2.$o> 

Hand-Book of Useful Tables for the Lumberman, Farmei and 
Mechanic: 

Containing Accurate Tables of Logs Reduced to Inch Board Meas. 
ure, Plank, Scantling and Timber Measure; Wages and Rent, by 
Week or Month; Capacity of Granaries, Bins and Cisterns; Land 
Measure, Interest Tables, with Directions for Finding the Interest on 
any sum at 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 per cent., and many other Useful Tables. 
32 mo., boards. 186 pages ...... .25 

HASERICK.—The Secrets of the Art of Dyeing Wool, Cotton, 
and Linen, 

Including Bleaching and Coloring Wool and Cotton Hosiery and 
Random Yarns. A Treatise based on Economy and Practice. By 
E. C. Haserick. Illustrated by 323 Dyed Patterns of the Yarnt 
or Fabrics. 8vo. ........ $7.50 

HATS AND FELTING: 

A Practical Treatise on their Manufacture. By a Practical Hatter, 
Illustrated by Drawings of Machinery, etc. 8vo. . . #1.25 

HOFFER.—A Practical Treatise on Caoutchouc and Gutta 
Percha, 

Comprising the Properties of the Raw Materials, and the manner of 
Mixing and Working them; with the Fabrication of Vulcanized and 
Hard Rubbers, Caoutchouc and Gutta Percha Compositions, Water- 
proof Substances, Elastic Tissues, the Utilization of Waste, etc., etc. 
From the German of Raimund Hoffer. By W. T. Brannt. 

Illustrated i2mo.. $3.50 

HAUPT.—Street Railway Motors: 

With Descriptions and Cost of Plants and Operation of the Various 
Systems now in Use. i2mo. ..... #1.75 






HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 15 


HAUPT—RHAWN.—A Move for Better Roads: 

Essays on Road-making and Maintenance and Road Laws, for 
which Prizes or Honorable Mention were Awarded through the 
University of Pennsylvania by a Committee of Citizens of Philadel¬ 
phia, with a Synopsis of other Contributions and a Review by the 
Secretary, Lewis M. Haupt, A. M., C. E.; also an Introduction by 
William H. Rhawn, Chairman of the Committee. 319 pages. 

8vo..$2.00 

HUGHES.—American Miller and Millwright’s Assistant: 

By William Carter Hughes. i2mo.$1.50 

HULME.—Worked Examination Questions in Plane Geomet ¬ 
rical Drawing : 

For the Use of Candidates for the Royal Military Academy, Wool¬ 
wich; the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; the Indian Civil En¬ 
gineering College, Cooper’s Hill; Indian Public Works and Tele¬ 
graph Departments; Royal Marine Light Infantry; the Oxford and 
Cambridge Local Examinations, etc. By F. Edward Hulme, F. L. 
S., F. S. A., Art-Master Marlborough College. Illustrated by 300 

examples. Small quarto. #2.50 

JERVIS.—Railroad Property: 

A Treatise on the Construction and Management of Railways; 
designed to afford useful knowledge, in the popular style, to the 
holders of this class of property; as well as Railway Managers, Offi¬ 
cers, and Agents. By John B. Jervis, late Civil Engineer of the 
Hudson River Railroad, Croton Aqueduct, etc. i2mo., cloth $2.oc 

KEENE.—A Hand-Book of Practical Gauging: 

For the Use of Beginners, to which is added a Chapter on Distilla¬ 
tion, describing the process in operation at the Custom-House for 
ascertaining the Strength of Wines. By James B. Keene, of H. M. 

Customs. 8 ..#i°° 

KELLEY.—Speeches, Addresses, and Letters on Industrial and 
Financial Questions: 

By Hon. William D. Kelley, M. C. 544 pages, 8vo. . #2.50 

KELLOGG.—A New Monetary System : 

The only means of Securing the respective Rights of Labor and 
Property, and of Protecting the Public from Financial Revulsions. 
By Edward Kellogg. Revised from his work on “Labor and 
other Capital.” With numerous additions from his manuscript. 
Edited by Mary Kellogg Putnam. Fifth edition. To which i* 
added a Biographical Sketch of the Author. One volume, i2mo. 

Paper cover. . 

Bound in cloth. I,2 5 

EM LO.— Watch-Repairer’s Hand-Book : 

Beincr a Complete Guide to the Young Beginner, in Taking Apart 
Putting Together, and Thoroughly Cleaning the English Lever and 
other Foreign Watches, and all American Watches. By F. Kemlo, 
Practical Watchmaker. With Illustrations. i2mo. . $1.25 




i6 


HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


KENTISH.—A Treatise on a Box of Instruments, 

And the Slide Rule; with the Theory of Trigonometry and Log* 
rithms, including Practical Geometry, Surveying, Measuring of Tim 
ber, Cask and Malt Gauging, Heights, and Distances. By Thoma c 
Kentish. In one volume. i2mo. .... $1.00 

KERL.—The Assayer’s Manual: 

An Abridged Treatise on the Docimastic Examination of Ores, and 
Furnace and other Artificial Products. By Bruno Kerl, Professor 
in the Royal School of Mines. Translated from the German by 
William T. Brannt. Second American edition, edited with Ex¬ 
tensive Additions by F. Lynwood Garrison, Member of the 
American Institute of Mining Engineers, etc. Illustrated by 87 en¬ 
gravings. 8vo.#3.00 

KICK.—Flour Manufacture. 

A Treatise on Milling Science and Practice. By Frederick Kick 
Imperial Regierungsrath, Professor of Mechanical Technology in tht 
imperial German Polytechnic Institute, Prague. Translated from 
the second enlarged and revised edition with supplement by H. H. 
P. Powles, Assoc. Memb. Institution of Civil Engineers. Illustrated 
with 28 Plates, and 167 Wood-cuts. 367 pages. 8vo. . #10.00 

KINGZETT.—The History, Products, and Processes of the 
Alkali Trade : 

Including the most Recent Improvements. By Charles Thomas 
Kingzett, Consulting Chemist. With 23 illustrations. 8vo. #2.50 
LANDRIN.—A Treatise on Steel: 

Comprising its Theory, Metallurgy, Properties, Practical Working, 
and Use. By M. H. C. Landrin, Jr. From the French, by A. A. 

Fesquet. i2mo.#2.50 

LANGBEIN.—A Complete Treatise on the Electro-Deposi. 
tion of Metals : 

Comprising Electro-Plating and Galvanoplastic Operations, the De¬ 
position of Metals by the Contact and Immersion Processes, the Color¬ 
ing of Metals, the Methods of Grinding and Polishing, as well as 
Descriptions of the Electric Elements Dynamo-Electric Machines, 
Thermo-Piles and of the Materials and Processes used in Every De¬ 
partment of the Art. From the German of Dr. George Langbein, 
with additions by Wm. T. Brannt. Third Edition, thoroughly re¬ 
vised and much enlarged. 150 Engravings. 520 pages 8vo. #4.00 

LARDNER.—The Steam-Engine: 

For the Use of Beginners. Illustrated. i2mo. . . . 73 

LEHNER.—The Manufacture of Ink: 

Comprising the Raw Materials, and the Preparation of Waiting, 
Copying and Hekiograph Inks, Safety Inks, Ink Extracts and Pottr. 
aers, etc. Translated from the German of Sigmund Lehner, with 
additions by William T. Brannt. Illustrated. i2mo. $2:00 






HENRY CAREV BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 17 


LARKIN.—The Practical Brass and Iron Founder’s Guide: 

A Concise Treatise on Brass Founding, Moulding, the Metals and 
their Alloys, etc.; to which are added Recent Improvements in th« 
Manufacture of Iron, Steel by the Bessemer Process, etc., etc. B) 
James Larkin, late Conductor of the Brass Foundry Department in 
Reany, Neafie & Co.’s Penn Works, Philadelphia. New edition, 
revised, with extensive additions. i2mo. . . . $2.50 

LEROUX.—A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture o* 
Worsteds and Carded Yarns : 

Comprising Practical Mechanics, with Rules and Calculations applied 
to Spinning; Sorting, Cleaning, and Scouring Wools; the English 
and French Methods of Combing, Drawing, and Spinning Worsteds, 
and Manufacturing Carded Yarns. Translated from the French of 
Charles Leroux, Mechanical Engineer and Superintendent of a 
Spinning-Mill, by Horatio Paine, M. D., and A. A. Fesquet, 
Chemist and Engineer. Illustrated by twelve large Plates. To which 
is added an Appendix, containing Extracts from the Reports of the 
International Jury, and of the Artisans selected by the Committee 
appointed by the Council of the Society of Arts, London, on Woolen 
and Worsted Machinery and Fabrics, as exhibited in the Paris Uni* 
versal Exposition, 1867. 8vo. ..... $5.00 

LEFFEL.—The Construction of Mill-Dams : 

Comprising also the Budding of Race and Reservoir Embankments 
and Head-Gates, the Measurement of Streams, Gauging of Water 


Supply, etc. By James Leffel & Co. Illustrated by 58 engravings. 

8vo..#2.50 

LESLIE.—Complete Cookery: 

Directions for Cookery in its Various Branches. By Miss Leslie. 
Sixtieth thousand. Thoroughly revised, with the addition of New 
Receipts. i2mo. $ 1 - 5 ° 


LE VAN.—The Steam Engine and the Indicator: 

Their Origin and Progressive Development; including the Most 
Recent Examples of Steam and Gas Motors, together with the Indi¬ 
cator, its Principles, its Utility, and its Application. By William 
Barnet Le Van. Illustrated by 205 Engravings, chiefly of Indi¬ 
cator-Cards. 469 pp. 8vo. ...... $4.00 

LIEBER.—Assayer’s Guide : 

Or, Practical Directions to Assayers, Miners, and Smelters, for the 
Tests and Assays, by Heat and by Wet Processes, for the Ores of all 
the principal Metals, of Gold and Silver Coins and Alloys, and of 
Coal, etc. By Oscar M. Lieber. Revised. 283 pp. i2mo. $1.50 
Lockwood’s Dictionary of Terms : 

Used in the Practice of Mechanical Engineering, embracing those 
Current in the Drawing Office, Pattern Shop, Foundry, Fitting, Turn- 
ncr, Smith’s and Boiler Shops, etc., etc., comprising upwards of Six» 
Thousand Definitions. Edited by a Foreman Pattern Maker, author 
of “ Pattern Making.” 417 PP* I2mo - * ' • $ 3 -°° 





HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE 


18 


LUKIN.—Amongst Machines; 

Embracing Descriptions of the various Mechanical Appliances used 
in the Manufacture of Wood, Metal, and other Substances. J2mo. . 

#i -75 

LUKIN.—The Boy Engineers: 

What They Did, and How They Did It. With 30 plates. i8mo. 

*i- 7 S 

LUKIN.—The Young Mechanic t 

Practical Carpentry. Containing Directions for the Use ol all kinds, 
of Tools, and for Construction of Steam-Engines and Mechanical 
Models, including the Art of Turning in Wood and Metal. By John 
Lukin, Author of “The Lathe and Its Uses,” etc. Illustrated. 

I2mo.$ 1-75 

MAIN and BROWN.—Questions on Subjects Connected with 
the Marine Steam-Engine: 

And Examination Papers; with Hints for their Solution. By 
Thomas J. Main, Professor of Mathematics, Royal Naval College, 
and Thomas Brown, Chief Engineer, R. N. i2mo., cloth . $1.00 

MAIN and BROWN.—The Indicator and Dynamometer: 

With their Practical Applications to the Steam-Engine. By Thomas 
J. Main, M. A. F. R., Ass’t S. Professor Royal Naval College, 
Portsmouth, and Thomas Brown, Assoc. Inst. C. E., Chief Engineer 
R. N., attached to the R. N. College. Illustrated. 8vo. . 

MAIN and BROWN.—The Marine Steam-Engine. 

By Thomas J. Main, F. R. Ass’t S. Mathematical Professor at the 
Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, and Thomas Brown, Assoc. 
Inst. C. E., Chief Engineer R. N. Attached to the Royal Naval 
College. With numerous illustrations. 8vo. 

MAKINS.—A Manual of Metallurgy: 

By George Hogarth Makins. ioo engravings. Second edition 
rewritten and much enlarged. i2mo., 592 pages . . $3.00 

MARTIN.—Screw-Cutting Tables, for the Use of Mechanical 
Engineers : 

Showing the Proper Arrangement of Wheels for Cutting the Threads 
of Screws of any Required Pitch; with a Table for Making the Uni¬ 
versal Gas-Pipe Thread and Taps. By W. A. Martin, Engineer. 

8vo.. . .50 

M 1 CHELL.—Mine Drainage: 

Being a Complete and Practical Treatise on Direct-Acting Under 
ST-ound Steam Pumping Machinery. With a Description of a large 
number of the best known Engines, their General Utility and the 
Special Sphere of their Action, the Mode of their Application, end 
their Merits compared with other Pumping Machinery. By Stephen 
MlCHELL. Illustrated by 137 engravings. 8vo., 277 pages . $6.oc 

MOLESWORTH.—Pocket-Book of Useful Formu’se and 
Memoranda for Civil and Mechanical Engineers. 

By Guii.ford L. Molesworth, Member of the Institution oi Civil 
Engineers, Chief Resident Engineer of the Ceylon Railway. Full 
bound in Pocket-book form „ . Si.00 






HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


19 


MOORE.—The Universal Assistant and the Complete Me 
chanic: 

Containing over one million Industrial Facts, Calculations, Receipts, 
Processes, Trades Secrets, Rules, Business Forms, Legal Items, Etc.^ 
in every occupation, from the Household to the Manufactory. By 
R. Moore. Illustrated by 500 Engravings. i2mo. . $2.50 

MORRIS.—Easy Ruies for the Measurement of Earthworks : 
By means of the Prismoidal Formula. Illustrated with Numerous 
Wood-Cuts, Problems, and Examples, and concluded by an Exten¬ 
sive Table for finding the Solidity in cubic yards from Mean Areas, 
The whole being adapted for convenient use by Engineers, Surveyor 
Contractors, and others needing Correct Measurements of Earthwork, 

By Elwood Morris, C. E. 8vo .$1.50 

MAUCHLINE.—The Mine Foreman’s Hand-Book 
Of Practical and Theoretical Information on the Opening, Venti¬ 
lating, and Working of Collieries. Questions and Answers on Prac¬ 
tical and Theoretical Coal Mining. Designed to Assist Students and 
Others in Passing Examinations for Mine Foremanships. By 
Robert Mauchline, Ex-Inspector of Mines. A New, Revised and 
Enlarged Edition. Illustrated by 114 engravings. 8vo. 337 

Pages.#3.75 

NAPIER.—A System of Chemistry Applied to Dyeing. 

By James Napier, F. C. S. A New and Thoroughly Revised Edi¬ 
tion. Completely brought up to the present state of the Science, 
including the Chemistry of Coal Tar Colors, by A. A. Fesquet, 
Chemist and Engineer. With an Appendix on Dyeing and Calico 
Printing, as shown at the Universal Exposition, Paris, 1867. Illus¬ 
trated. 8vo. 422 pages.#3.00 

NEVILLE.—Hydraulic Tables, Coefficients, and Formulae, foi 
finding the Discharge of Water from Orifices, Notches, 
Weirs, Pipes, and Rivers : 

Third Edition, with Additions, consisting of New Formulae for the 
Discharge from Tidal and Flood Sluices and Siphons; general infor 
mation on Rainfall, Catchment-Basins, Drainage, Sewerage, Wa;e> 
Supply for Towns and Mill Power. By Tohn Neville, C. E. M R 
I. A.; Fellow of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland. Thick 

i2mo. $ 5.50 

NEWBERY.—Gleanings from Ornamental Art of every 
style: 

Drawn from Examples in the British, South Kensington, Indian, 
Crystal Palace, and other Museums, the Exhibitions of 1851 and 
1862, and the best English and Foreign works. In a series of 100 
exquisitely drawn Plates, containing many hundred examples. By 
Robert Newbery. 4to. ...... 

NICHOLLS. —The Theoretical and Practical Boiler-Maker an<? 
Engineer’s Reference Book: 

Containing a variety of Useful Information for Employers of Labor 
Foremen and Working Boiler-Makers Iron, Copper, and Tinsmith* 




20 


HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


Draughtsmen, Engineers, the General Steam-using Public, and for th* 
Use of Science Schools and Classes. By Samuel Nicholls. Ulus* 
trated by sixteen plates, i2mo. ..... $2.50 

NICHOLSON.—A Manual of the Art of Bookbinding: 
Containing full instructions in the different Branches of Forwarding, 
Gilding, and Finishing. Also, the Art of Marbling Book-edges and 
Paper. By James B. Nicholson. Illustrated. i 2 mo., cloth $ 2.25 
NICOLLS. — The Railway Builder: 

A Hand-Book for Estimating the Probable Cost of American Rail* 
way Construction and Equipment. By William J. Nicolls, Civil 
Engineer. Illustrated, full bound, pocket-book form 
NORMANDY.—The Commercial Handbook of Chemical An¬ 
alysis : 

Or Practical Instructions for the Determination of the Intrinsic 01 
Commercial Value of Substances used in Manufactures, in Trades, 
and in the Arts. By A. Normandy. New Edition, Enlarged, and 
to a great extent rewritten. By Henry M. Noad, Ph.D., F.R.S., 

thick i2mo.$5.00 

NORRIS.—A Handbook fer Locomotive Engineers and Ma¬ 
chinists: 

Comprising the Proportions and Calculations for Constructing Loco¬ 
motives; Manner of Setting Valves; Tables cf Squares, Cubes, Areas, 
etc., etc. By Septimus Norris, M. E. New edition. Illustrated, 

I 2 mo.$1.50 

NYSTRGM.—A New Treatise on Elements of Mechanics : 
Establishing Strict Precision in the Meaning of Dynamical Terms: 
accompanied with an Appendix on Duodenal Arithmetic and Me 
trology. By John W. Nystrom, C. E. Illustrated. 8vo. $3.00 
NYSTROM.—On Technological Education and the Construc¬ 
tion of Ships and Screw Propellers: 

For Naval and Marine Engineers. By John W. Nystrom, late 
Acting Chief Engineer, U. S. N. Second edition, revised, with addi¬ 
tional matter. Illustrated by seven engravings. i2mo. . $ 1.25 

O’NEILL.—A Dictionary of Dyeing and Calico Printing: 
Containing a brief account of all the Substances and Processes in 
use in the Art of Dyeing and Printing Textile Fabrics ; with Practical 
Receipts and Scientific Information. By Charles O’Neill, Analy¬ 
tical Chemist. To which is added an Essay on Coal Tar Colors and 
their application to Dyeing and Calico Printing. By A. A. Fesquet, 
Chemist and Engineer. With an appendix on Dyeing and Calico 
Printing, as shown at the Universal Exposition, Paris, 1867 . 8vo., 

491 pages . . .$3-00 

ORTON.—Underground Treasures*. 

How and Where to Find Them. A Key for the Ready Determination 
of all the Useful Minerals within the United States. By James 
Orton, A.M., Late Professor of Natural History in Vassar College, 
N. Y.; Cor. Mem. of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia’ 
and of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York; author of the 
f * Andes and the Amazon,” etc. A New Edition, with Additions. 
Illustrated ... c» 






HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


21 


OSBORN.—The Prospector’s Field Book and Guide. * 

In the Search For and the Easy Determination of Ores and Other 
Useful Minerals. By Prof. H. S. Osborn, LL. D. Illustrated by 58 
Engravings. i2mo. Third Edition. Revised and Enlarged (1897). 

#1.50 

OSBORN—A Practical Manual of Minerals, Mines and Min¬ 
ing: 

Comprising the Physical Properties, Geologic Positions, Local Occur¬ 
rence and Associations of the Useful Minerals; their Methods of 
Chemical Analysis and Assay; together with Various Systems of Ex¬ 
cavating and Timbering, Brick and Masonry Work, during Driving, 
Lining, Bracing and other Operations, etc. By Prof. H. S. Osborn, 
LL. D., Author of “ The Prospector’s Field-Book and Guide.” 171 
engravings. Second Edition, revised. 8vo. . . , $4.50 

OVERMAN.—The Manufacture of Steel: 

Containing the Practice and Principles of Working and Making Steel. 
A Handbook for Blacksmiths and Workers in Steel and Iron, Wagon 
Makers, Die Sinkers, Cutlers, and Manufacturers of Files and Hard¬ 
ware, of Steel and Iron, and for Men of Science and Art. By 
Frederick Overman, Mining Engineer, Author of the “ Manu¬ 
facture of Iron,” etc. A new, enlarged, and revised Edition. By 
A. A. FesquiDT, Chemist and Engineer. i2mo. . . $1.50 

OVERMAN.—The Moulder’s and Founder’s Pocket Guide : 

A Treatise or* Moulding and Founding in Green-sand, Dry-sand, Loam, 
and Cement; the Moulding of Machine Frames, Mill-gear, Hollow- 
ware, Ornaments, Trinkets, Bells, and Statues; Description of Moulds 
for Iron, Bronze, Brass, and other Metals; Plaster of Paris, Sulphur, 
Wax, etc.; the Construction of Melting Furnaces, the Melting and 
Founding of Metals; the Composition of Alloys and their Nature, 
etc., etc. By Frederick Overman, M. E. A new Edition, to 
which is added a Supplement on Statuary and Ornamental Moulding, 
Ordnance, Malleable Iron Castings, etc. By A. A. Fesquet, Chem¬ 
ist and Engineer. Illustrated by 44 engravings. i2mo. . $2.00 

PAINTER, GILDER, AND VARNISHER’S COMPANION. 
Comprising the Manufacture and Test of Pigments, the Arts of Paint¬ 
ing, Graining, Marbling, Staining, Sign-writing, Varnishing, Glass- 
staining, and Gilding on Glass; together with Coach Painting and 
Varnishing, and the Principles of the Harmony and Contrast of 
Colors. Twenty-seventh Edition. Revised, Enlarged, and in great 
part Rewritten. By William T. Brannt, Editor of “ Varnishes, 
Lacquers, Printing Inks and Sealing Waxes.” Illustrated. 395 pp. 

12 mo. . . . ..$150 

PALLETT.—The Miller’s, Millwright’s,and Engineer’s Guide. 
By Henry Pallett. Illustrated. i2mo. . . . #2.00 





22 


HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


PERCY.—The Manufacture of Russian Sheet-Iron. 

By John Percy, M. D., F. R. S., Lecturer on Metallurgy at the 
Royal School of Mines, and to The Advance Class of Artillery 
Officers at the Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich; Author of 
“ Metallurgy.” With Illustrations. 8vo., paper . . 25 cts. 

PERKINS.—Gas and Ventilation : 

Practical Treatise on Gas and Ventilation. With Special Relation 
to Illuminating, Heating, and Cooking by Gas. Including Scientific 
Helps to Engineer-students and others. With Illustrated Diagrams, 

By E. E. Perkins. i2mo., cloth.#1.25 

PERKINS AND STOWE.—A New Guide to the Sheet-iron 
and Boiler Plate Roller : 

Containing a Series of Tables showing the Weight of Slabs and Piles 
to Produce Boiler Plates, and of the Weight of Piles and the Sizes of 
Bars to produce Sheet-iron; the Thickness of the Bar Gauge 
in decimals; the Weight per foot, and the Thickness on the Bar or 
Wire Gauge of the fractional parts of an inch; the Weight per 
sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet-iron of various 
dimensions to weigh 112 lbs. per bundle; and the conversion of 
Short Weight into Long Weight, and Long Weight into Short. 
Estimated and collected by G. H. Perkins and J. G- Stowe. $1.50 
POWELL—CHANCE—HARRIS—The Principles of Glass 
Making. 

By Harry J. Powell, B. A. Together with Treatises on Crown and 
Sheet Glass; by Henry Chance, M. A. And Plate Glass, by H. 
G. Harris, Asso. M. Inst. C. E. Illustrated i8mo. 

PROCTOR.—A Pocket-Book of Useful Tables and Formulae 
for Marine Engineers : 

By Frank Proctor. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 
Full-bound pocket-book form ...... 

REGNAULT.—Elements of Chemistry: 

By M. V. Regnault. Translated from the French by T. Forrest 
Betton, M. D., and edited, with Notes, by James C. Booth, Melter 
and Refiner U. S. Mint, and William L. Faber, Metallurgist and 
Mining Engineer. Illustrated by nearly 700 wood-engravings. Com¬ 
prising nearly 1,500 pages. In two volumes, 8vo., cloth . $ 6.00 

RICHARDS.—Aluminium : 

Its History, Occurrence, Properties, Metallurgy and Applications, 
including its Alloys. By Joseph W. Richards, A. C., Chemist and 
Practical Metallurgist, Member of the Deutsche Chemische Gesell- 
schaft. Illust. Third edition, enlarged and revised (1895) • #6.00 
RIFFAULT, VERGNAUD, and TOUSSAINT.—A Practical. 
Treatise on the Manufacture of Colors for Painting: 
Comprising the Origin, Definition, and Classification of Colors; the 
Treatment of the Raw Materials; the best Formulae and the Newest 
Processes for the Preparation of every description of Pigment, and 
the Necessary Apparatus and Directions for its Use; Dryers; the 
Testing. Application, and Qualities of Paints, etc., etc. By MM. 
Riffault, Vergnaud, and Toussaint. Revised and Edited by M. 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO. S CATALOGUE. 


2 3 


F. Malepeyre. Translated from the French, by A. A. Fesqubt, 
Chemist and Engineer. Illustrated by Eighty engravings. In one 
vol.. 8vo., 659 pages.$5.00 

ROPER.—A Catechism of High-Pressure, or Non-Condensing 
Steam-Engines : 

Including the Modelling, Constructing, and Management of Steam- 
Engines and Steam Boilers. With valuable illustrations. By Ste¬ 
phen Roper, Engineer. Sixteenth edition, revised and enlarged. 

i8mo., tucks, gilt edge. $2.oc 

ROPER.—Engineer’s Handy-Book: 

Containing a full Explanation of the Steam-Engine Indicator, and its 
Use and Advantages to Engineers and Steam Users. With Formulae 
for Estimating the Power of all Classes of Steam-Engines; also. 
Facts, Figures, Questions, and Tables for Engineers who wish to 
•qualify themselves for the United States Navy, the Revenue Service, 
the Mercantile Marine, or to take charge of the Better Class of Sta¬ 
tionary Steam-Engines. Sixth edition. i6mo.. 690 pages, tucks y 

gift edge.$3.50 

ROPER.—Hand-Book of Land and Marine Engines : 

Including the Modelling, Construction, Running, and Management 
of Land and Marine Engines and Boilers. With illustrations, rsy 
Stephen Roper, Engineer. Sixth edition. i2mo.,tvcWs, gilt edge. 

# 3 - 5 ° 

ROPER.—Hand-Book of the Locomotive : 

Including the Construction of Engines and Boilers, and the Construc¬ 
tion, Management, and Running of Locomotives. By Stephen 
Roper. Eleventh edition. i8mo., tucks, gilt edge . $2.50 

ROPER.—Hand-Book of Modern Steam Fi-e-Engines. 

With illustrations. By Stephen Roper, Engineer. Fourth edition, 
12mo., tucks, gilt edge ....... $3 .50 

ROPER.—Questions and Answers for Engineers. 

This little book contains all the Questions that Engineers will be 
asked when undergoing an Examination for the purpose of procuring 
Licenses, and they are so plain that any Engineer or Fireman of or 
dinary intelligence may commit them to memory in a short time.. By 
Stephen Roper, Engineer. Third edition . . . $2.00 

ROPER.—Use and Abuse of the Steam Boiler. 

By Stephen Roper, Engineer. Eighth edition, with illustrations. 

i8mo., tucks, gilt edge.#2.oc 

ROSE.—The Complete Practical Machinist: 

Embracing Lathe Work, Vise Work, Drills and Drilling, Taps and 
Dies, Hardening and Tempering, the Making and Use of Tools. 
Tool Grinding, Marking out Work, Machine Tools, etc. By Joshua 
Rose. 395 Engravings. Nineteenth Edition, greatly Enlarged with 
New and Valuable Matter. i2mo., 504 pages. . . $2.50 

ROSE.—Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught: 

Comprising Instructions in the Selection and Preparation of Drawing 
Instruments, Elementary Instruction in Practical Mechanical Draw- 





24 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


ing, together with Examples in Simple Geometry and Elementary- 
Mechanism, including Screw Threads, Gear Wheels, Mechanical 
Motions, Engines and Boilers. By Joshua Rose, M. E. Illustrated 
by 330 engravings. 8vo., 313 pages .... #40^ 

ROSE.—The Slide-Valve Practically Explained: 

Embracing simple and complete Practical Demonstrations of th. 
operation of each element in a Slide-valve Movement, and illustrat¬ 
ing the effects of Variations in their Proportions by examples care, 
fully selected from the most recent and successful practice. By 
Joshua Rose, M. E. Illustrated by 35 engravings . $1.00 

ROSS.—The Blowpipe in Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology 1 
Containing all Known Methods of Anhydrous Analysis, many Work¬ 
ing Examples, and Instructions for Making Apparatus. By Lieut.- 
Colonel W. A. Ross, R. A., F. G. S. With 120 Illustrations. 

i2mo. $2.00 

SHAW.—Civil Architecture : 

Being a Complete Theoretical and Practical System of Building, con¬ 
taining the Fundamental Principles of the Art. By Edward Shaw,. 
Architect. To which is added a Treatise on Gothic Architecture, etc. 
By Thomas W. Silloway and George M. Harding, Architects. 
The whole illustrated by 102 quarto plates finely engraved on copper. 
Eleventh edition. 4to. ....... #6.00 

SHUNK.—A Practical Treatise on Railway Curves and Loca¬ 
tion, for Young Engineers. 

By W. F. Shunk, C. E. l2mo. J'ull bound pocket-book form $2.00 
SLATER.—The Manual of Colors and Dye Wares. 

By J. W. Slater. i2mo.#3.00 

SLOAN.—American Houses : 

A variety of Original Designs for Rural Buildings. Illustrated by 
26 colored engravings, with descriptive references. By Samuel 
Sloan, Architect. 8vo. ...... #1.00- 

SLOAN.—Homestead Architecture : 

Containing Forty Designs for Villas, Cottages, and Farm-houses, with 
Essays on Style, Construction, Landscape Gardening, Furniture, etc., 
etc. Illustrated by upwards of 200 engravings. By Samuel Sloan, 
Architect. 8vo. ........ $3.00 

SLOANE.—Ho»re Experiments in Science. 

By T. O’Conor Slcane, E. M., A. M., Fk. D. Illustrated by 91 
engravings. i2mo. ....... $1.00 

SMEATON.—Builder’s Pocket-Companion : 

Containing the Elements of Building, Surveying, and Architecture ; 
with Practical Rules and Instructions collected with the subject. 
By A. C. Smeaton, Civil Engineer, etc. i2mo. . . 75 cts. 

SMITH.—A Manual of Political Economy. 

By E. Peshine Smith. A New Edition, to which is added a full 
Index. i2mo..25 





HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


25 - 


SMITH.—Parks and Pleasure-Grounds: 

Or Practical Notes on Country Residences, Villas, Public Parks, and 
Gardens. By Charles H. J. Smith, Landscape Gardener and 
Garden Architect, etc., etc. i2mo. .... #2.00- 

SMITH.—The Dyer’s Instructor: 

Comprising Practical Instructions in the Art of Dyeing Silk, Cotton, 
Wool, and Worsted, and Woolen Goods; containing nearly 800 
Receipts. To which is added a Treatise on the Art of Padding; and^. 
the Printing of Silk Warps, Skeins, and Handkerchiefs, and the*- 
various Mordants and Colors for the different styles of such work.* 
By David Smith, Pattern Dyer. i2mo. . . . #1.50 

SMYTH.—A Rudimentary Treatise on Coal and Coal-Mining. 
By Warrington W. Smyth, M. A., F. R. G., President R. G. S. 
of Cornwall. Fifth edition, revised and corrected. With numer¬ 
ous illustrations. i2mo. ...... $1.75. 

SNIVELY.—Tables for Systematic Qualitative Chemical AnaL 
ysis. 

By John H. Snively, Phr. D. 8vo. . . . . $i.oa 

SNIVELY.—The Elements of Systematic Qualitative chemical 
Analysis : 

A Hand-book for Beginners. By John H. Snively, Phr. D. i6mo. 

$2.00 

STOKES.—The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Companion; 
Comprising the Art of Drawing, as applicable to Cabinet Work; 
Veneering, Inlaying, and Buhl-Work; the Art of Dyeing and Stain¬ 
ing Wood, Ivory, Bone, Tortoise-Shell, etc. Directions for Lacker- 
ing, Japanning, and Virnishing; to make French Polish, Glues, 
Cements, and ComposLv ns; with numerous Receipts, useful to work 
men generally. Bv Stokes. Illustrated. A New Edition, with 
an Appendix upor /ench Polishing, Staining, Imitating, Varnishing,. 

etc., etc. i2mo. $1 .25 

STRENGTH AND OTHER PROPERTIES OF METALS; 
Reports of Experiments on the Strength and other Properties of 
Metals for Cannon. With a Description of the Machines for Testing 
Metals, and of the Classification of Cannon in service. By Officers- 
of the Ordnance Department, U. S. Army. By authority of the Secre¬ 
tary of War. Illustrated by 25 large steel plates. Quarto . $5.00 

SULLIVAN.—Protection to Native Industry. 

By Sir Edward Sullivan, Baronet, author of “ Ten Chapters on 
Social Reforms.” 8vo. . . . • • . • #1.00 

SHERRATT.—The Elements of Hand-Railing: 

Simplified and Explained in Concise Problems that are Easily Under¬ 
stood. The whole illustrated with Thirty-eight Accurate and Origi¬ 
nal Plates, Founded on Geometrical Principles, and Showing how to 
Make Rail Without Centre Joints, Making Better Rail of the Same 
Material, with Half the Labor, and Showing How to Lay Out Stairs 
of all Kinds. By R. J. Sherratt. Folio. . . . #2.50 






26 HENRY CAREY BAIRr? & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


SYME.—Outlines of an Industrial Science. 

By David Syme. i2mo. . ... #2.00 

TABLES SHOWING THE WEIGHT OF ROUND, 
SQUARE, AND FLAT BAR IRON, STEEL, ETC., 

By Measurement. Cloth ...... 63 

TAYLOR.—Statistics of Coal: 

Including Mineral Bituminous Substances employed in Arts and 
Manufactures; with their Geographical, Geological, and Commercial 
Distribution and Amount of Production and Consumption on the 
American Continent. With Incidental Statistics of the Iron Manu¬ 
facture. By R. C. Taylor. Second edition, revised by S. S. Halde* 
MAN. Illustrated by five Maps and many wood engravings. 8vo., 
cloth .......... $6.oo 

TEMPLETON.—The Practical Examinator on Steam and the 


Steam-Engine: 

With Instructive References relative thereto, arranged for the Use of 
Engineers, Students, and others. By William Templeton, En. 
gineer. i2mo. ........ $1.00 

THAUSING.—The Theory and Practice of the Preparation of 
Malt and the Fabrication of Beer: 

With especial reference to the Vienna Process of Brewing. Elab¬ 
orated from personal experience by Julius E. Thausing, Professor 
at the School for Brewers, and at the Agricultural Institute, Modling, 
near Vienna. Translated from the German by William T. Brannt, 
Thoroughly and elaborately edited, with much American matter, and 
according to the latest and most Scientific Practice, by A. Schwarz 
and Dr. A. H. Bauer. Illustrated by 140 Engravings. 8vo., Sit; 

pages.#10.00 

THOMAS.—The Modern Practice of Photography: 

By R. W. Thomas, F. C. S. 8vo. 25 

THOMPSON.—Political Economy. With Especial Reference 
to the Industrial History of Nations : 

By Robert E. Thompson, M. A., Professor of Social Science in the 
University of Pennsylvania. i2mo. . . . . #1.50 

THOMSON.—Freight Charges Calculator: 

By Andrew Thomson, Freight Agent. 241110. . . #1.25 


TURNER’S (THE) COMPANION: 

Containing Instructions in Concentric, Elliptic, and Eccentric Turn, 
hig; also various Plates of Chucks, Tools, and Instruments; and 
Directions for using the Eccentric Cutter, Drill, Vertical Cutter, and 
Circular Rest; with Patterns and Instructions for working them. 

izmo. . ..#1.00 

TURNING: Specimens of Fancy Turning Executed on the 
Hand or Foot-Lathe: 


With Geometric, Oval, and Eccentric Chucks, and Elliptical Cutting 
Frame. By an Amateur. Illustrated by 30 exquisite Photographs. 
4 *°.$2.50 







HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 


27 


VAILE.—Galvanized-Iron Cornice-Worker’s Manual: 

Containing Instructions in Laying out the Different Mitres, and 
Making Patterns for all kinds of Plain and Circular Work. Also, 
Tables of Weights, Areas and Circumferences of Circles, and other 
Matter calculated to Benefit the Trade. By Charles A. Vaile. 
Illustrated by twenty-one plates. 4to.#5.00 

VILLE.—On Artificial Manures : 

Their Chemical Selection and Scientific Application to Agriculture. 
A series of Lectures given at the Experimental Farm at Vincennes, 
during 1867 and 1874-75. By M. Georges Ville. Translated and 
Edited by William Crookes, F. R. S. Illustrated by thirty-one 

engravings. 8vo., 450 pages.$6.00 

VILLE.—The School of Chemical Manures : 

Or, Elementary Principles in the Use of Fertilizing Agents. From 
the French of M. Geo. Ville, by A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and En¬ 
gineer. With Illustrations. i2mo. . . . . $1.25 

VOGDES.—The Architect’s and Builder’s Pocket-Companion 
and Price-Book : 

Consisting of a Shoit but Comprehensive Epitome of Decimals, Duo¬ 
decimals, Geometry and Mensuration; with Tables of United States 
Measures, Sizes, Weights, Strengths, etc., of Iron, Wood, Stone, 
Brick, Cement and Concretes, Quantities of Materials in given Sizes 
and Dimensions of Wood, Brick and Stone; and full and complete 
Bills of Prices for Carpenter’s Work and Painting; also, Rules for 
Computing and Valuing Brick and Brick Work, Stone Work, Paint¬ 
ing, Plastering, with a Vocabulary of Technical Terms, etc. By 
Frank W. Vogdes, Architect, Indianapolis, Ind. Enlarged, revised, 
and corrected. In one volume, 368 pages, full-bound, pocket-book 

form, gilt edges ..#2.00 

Cloth . .1.5a 

VAN CLEVE.—The English and American Mechanic: 
Comprising a Collection of Over Three Thousand Receipts, Rules, 
and Tables, designed for the Use of every Mechanic and Manufac¬ 
turer. By B. Frank Van Cleve. Illustrated. 500 pp. i2mo. #2.00 

WAHNSCHAFFE.—A Guide to the Scientific Examinatior 
of Soils: 

Comprising Select Methods of Mechanical and Chemical Analysis 
and Physical Investigation. Translated from the German of Dr. F. 
Wahnschaffe. With additions by William T. Brannt. Illus¬ 
trated by 25 engravings. 121110. 177 pages . . . $i-5 r 

WALL.—Practical Graining: 

With Descriptions of Colors Employed and Tools Used. Illustrated 
by 47 Colored Plates, Representing the Various Woods Used x 
Interior Finishing. By William E. Wall. 8vo. . #2.50 

WALTON.—Coal-Mining Described and Illustrated: 

By Thomas H. Walton, Mining Engineer. Illustrated by 24 large 
and elaborate Plates, after Actual Workings and Apparatus, ,55.0c 





28 liENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


5 VARE.—The Sugar Beet. 

Including a History of the Beet Sugar Industry in Europe, Varieties 
of the Sugar Beet, Examination, Soils, Tillage, Seeds and Sowing 
Yield and Cost of Cultivation, Harvesting, Transportation, Conserva 
tion, Feeding Qualities of the Beet and of the Pulp, etc. By Lewi* 
S. Ware, C. E., M. E. Illustrated by ninety engravings. 8vo. 

$4.oc 

WARN.—The Sheet-Metal Worker’s Instructor: 

For Zinc, Sheet-Iron, Copper, and Tin-Plate Workers, etc. Contain¬ 
ing a selection of Geometrical Problems; also, Practical and Simple 
Rules for Describing the various Patterns required in the different 
branches of the above Trades. By Reuben H. Warn, Practical 
Tin-Plate Worker. To which is added an Appendix, containing 
Instructions for Boiler-Making, Mensuration of Surfaces and Solids, 
Rules for Calculating the Weights of different Figures of Iron and 
Steel, Tables of the Weights of Iron, Steel, etc. Illustrated by thirty 
two Plates and thirty-seven Wood Engravings. 8vo. . $3.00 

WARNER.—New Theorems, Tables, and Diagrams, for the 
Computation of Earth-work: 

Designed for the use of Engineers in Preliminary and Final Estimates 
of Students in Engineering, and of Contractors and other non-profes¬ 
sional Computers. In two parts, with an Appendix. Part I. A Prac¬ 
tical Treatise; Part II. A Theoretical Treatise, and the Appendix, 
Containing Notes to the Rules and Examples of Part I.; Explana¬ 
tions of the Construction of Scales, Tables, and Diagrams, and a 
Treatise upon Equivalent Square Bases and Equivalent Level Heights. 
By John Warner, A. M., Mining and Mechanical Engineer. Illus¬ 
trated by 14 Plates. 8vo..$4.00 

WILSON.—Carpentry and Joinery: 

By John Wilson, Lecturer on Building Construction, Carpentry and 
Joinery, etc., in the Manchester Technical School. Third Edition, 
with 65 full-page plates, in flexible cover, oblong . . .80 

WATSON.—A Manual of the Hand-Lathe : 

Comprising Concise Directions for Working Metals of all kinds E 
Ivory, Bone and Precious Woods; Dyeing, Coloring, and French 
Polishing; Inlaying by Veneers, and various methods practised tc 
produce Elaborate work with Dispatch, and at Small Expense. By 
Egbert P. Watson, Author of “ The Modern Practice of American 
Machinists and Engineers.” Illustrated by 78 engravings. #1.50 

WATSON.—The Modern Practice of American Machinists and 
Engineers 

Including the Construction, Application, and Use of Drills, Lathe 
Tools, Cutters for Boring Cylinders, and Hollow-work generally, with 
the most Economical Speed for the same; the Results verified b) 
Actual Practice at the Lathe, the Vise, and on the Floor. Togetnea 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


29 


with Workshop Management, Economy of Manufacture, the Steam 
Engine, Boilers, Gears, Belting, etc., etc. By Egbert P. Watson. 
Illustrated by eighty-six engravings. i2mo. . . . #2.50 

WATT.—The Art of Soap Making : 

A Practical Hand-Book of the Manufacture of Hard and Soft Soaps, 
Toilet Soaps, etc. Fifth Edition, Revised, to which is added an 
Appendix on Modern Candle Making. By Alexander Watt. 
Ill. 121110. . . . . . . . . . $3.00 

WEATHERLY.—Treatise on the Art of Boiling Sugar, Crys¬ 
tallizing, Lozenge-making, Comfits, Gum Goods, 

And other processes for Confectionery, etc., in which are explained, 
in an easy and familiar manner, the various Methods of Manufactur¬ 
ing every Description of Raw and Refined Sugar Goods, as sold by 
Confectioners and others. i2mo. ..... $1.50 

WILL.—Tables of Qualitative Chemical Analysis : 

With an Introductory Chapter on the Course of Analysis. By Pro¬ 
fessor Heinrich Will, of Giessen, Germany. Third American, 
from the eleventh German edition. Edited by Charles F. Himes, 
Ph. D., Professor of Natural Science, Dickinson College, Carlisle, 

Pa. 8 vo.#1.50 

WILLIAMS.—On Heat and Steam : 

Embracing New Views of Vaporization, Condensation and Explo¬ 
sion. By Charles Wye Williams, A. I. C. E. Illustrated. 8vo. 

$2.50 

WILSON.—First Principles of Political Economy: 

With Reference to Statesmanship and the Progress of Civilization. 
By Professor W. D. Wilson, of the Cornell University. A new and 
revised edition. i2mo. ....... $1-5° 

WILSON.—The Practical Tool-Maker and Designer: 

A Treatise upon the Designing of Tools and Fixtures for Machine 
Tools and Metal Working Machinery, Comprising Modern Examples 
of Machines with Fundamental Designs for Tools for the Actual Pro¬ 
duction of the work; Together with Special Reference to a Set of 
Tools for Machining the Various Parts of a Bicycle. Illustrated by 
189 engravings. 1898. ....... $2.50 

CONTENTS: Introductory. Chapter I. Modern Tool Room and Equipment. 
II. Files, Their Use and Abuse. III. Steel and Tempering. IV. Making Jigs. 
V. Milling Machine Fixtures. VI. Tools and Fixtures for Screw Machines. VII. 
Broaching. VIII. Punches and Dies for Cutting and Drop Press. IX. Tools for 
Hollow-Ware. X. Embossing: Metal, Coin, and Stamped Sheet-Metal Orna¬ 
ments. XI. Drop Forging. XII. Solid Drawn Shells or Ferrules; Cupping or 
Cutting, and Drawing ; Breaking Down Shells XIII. Annealing, Pickling and 
Cleaning. XIV. Tools for Draw Bench. XV. Cutting and Assembling Pieces 
by Means of Ratchet Dial Plates at One Operation. XVI. The Header. XVII. 
Tools for Fox Lathe. XVIII. Suggestions for a Set of Tools for Machining the 
Various Parts of a Bicycle. XIX. The Plater’s Dynamo. XX. Conclusion— 
With a Few Random Ideas. Appendix. Index. 

WOODS. —Compound Locomotives : 

By Arthur Tannatt Woods. Second edition, revised and enlarged 
by David Leonard Barnes, A. M., C E. 8vo. 330 pp. #3.00 



3 ° 


HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


WOHLER.—A Hand-Book of Mineral Analysis: 

By F. Wohler, Professor of Chemistry in the University of GSttin- 
gen. Edited by Henry B. Nason, Professor of Chemistry in the 
Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. Illustrated. 
..$2.50 

WORSSAM.—On Mechanical Saws: 

From the Transactions of the Society of Engineers, 1869. By S. W. 
Worssam, Jr. Illustrated by eighteen large plates. 8vo. $ 1 * 5 ° 


RECENT ADDITIONS. 

BRANNT.—Varnishes, Lacquers, Printing Inks and Sealing- 

Waxes : 

Their Raw Materials and their Manufacture, to which is added the 
Art of Varnishing and Lacquering, including the Preparation of Put¬ 
ties and of Stains for Wood, Ivory, Bone, Horn, and Leather. By 
William T. Brannt. Illustrated by 39 Engravings, 338 pages. 
i2mo. $3-°° 

BRANNT—The Practical Scourer and Garment Dyer: 
Comprising Dry or Chemical Cleaning; the Art of Removing Stains 
Fine Washing; Bleaching and Dyeing of Straw Hats, Gloves, and 
Feathers of all kinds; Dyeing of Worn Clothes of all fabrics, in¬ 
cluding Mixed Goods, by One Dip; and the Manufacture of Soaps 
and Fluids for Cleansing Purposes. Edited by William T. Brannt, 
Editor of “ The Techno-Chemical Receipt Book.” Illustrated. 
203 pages. i2mo. ....... $2.00 

BRANNT.—Petroleum. 

its History, Origin, Occurrence, Production, Physical and Chemical 
Constitution, Technology, Examination and Uses; Together with 
the Occurrence and Uses of Natural Gas. Edited chiefly from the 
German of Prof. Hans Hoefer and Dr. Alexander Veith, by Wm. 
T. Brannt. Illustrated by 3 Plates and 284 Engravings. 743 pp. 
8vo. #7.50 

BRANNT.—A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Vine¬ 
gar and Acetates, Cider, and Fruit-Wines: 

Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables by Canning and Evaporation; 
Preparation of Fruit-Butters, Jellies, Marmalades, Catchups, Pickles, 
Mustards, etc. Edited from various sources. By William T. 
Brannt. Illustrated by 79 Engravings. 479 pp. 8vo. $5.00 

BRANNT.—The Metal Worker’s Handy-Book of Receipts 
and Processes: 

Being a Collection of Chemical Formulas and Practical Manipula¬ 
tions for the working of all Metals; including the Decoration and 
Beautifying of Articles Manufactured therefrom, as well as their 
Preservation. Edited from various sources. By William T. 
Brannt. Illustrated. i2mo. $2.50 







HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 


3 f 


DEITE.—A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture cf Per- 
tumery: 

Comprising directions for making all kinds of Perfumes, Sachet 
Powders, Fumigating Materials, Dentifrices, Cosmetics, etc., with a 
full account of the Volatile Oils, Balsams, Resins, and other Natural 
and Artificial Perfume-substances, including the Manufacture of 
Fruit Ethers, and tests of their purity. By Dr. C. Deite, assisted 
by L. Borchert, F. Eichbaum, E. Kugler, H. Toeffner, and 
other experts. From the German, by Wm. T. Brannt. 28 Engrav¬ 
ings. 358 pages. 8vo..#3.00 

EDWARDS.—American Marine Engineer, Theoretical and 
Practical: 

With Examples of the latest and most approved American Practice. 
By Emory Edwards. 85 illustrations. i2mo. . . $2.50 

EDWARDS.—900 Examination Questions and Answers: 

For Engineers and Firemen (Land and Marine) who desire to ob¬ 
tain a United States Government or State License. Pocket-book 

form, gilt edge.#1-5° 

KIRK.—The Cupola Furnace: 

A Practical Treatise on the Construction and Management of Foun¬ 
dry Cupolas. By Edward Kirk, Practical Moulder and Melter, 
author of “ The Founding of Metals.” Illustrated by 80 Engravings. 
8vo. (1899) $3.50 

POSSELT.—The Jacquard Machine Analysed and Explained: 

With an Appendix on the Preparation of Jacquard Cards, and 
Practical Hints to Learners of Jacquard Designing. By E. A. 
Posselt. With 230 illustrations and numerous diagrams. 127 pp. 
4to..$300 

POSSELT.—The Structure of Fibres, Yarns and Fabrics: 

Being a Practical Treatise for the Use of all Persons Employed in 
the Manufacture of Textile Fabrics, containing a Description of the 
Growth and Manipulation of Cotton, Wool, Worsted, Silk Flax, 

Jute, Ramie, China Grass and Hemp, and Dealing with all Manu¬ 
facturers’ Calculations for Every Class of Material, also Giving 
Minute Details for the Structure of all kinds of Textile Fabrics, and 
an Appendix of Arithmetic, specially adapted for Textile Purposes. 
By E. A. Posselt. Over 400 Illustrations, quarto. . $5.00 

RICH.—Artistic Horse-Shoeing: 

A Practical and Scientific Treatise, giving Improved Methods of 
Shoeing, with Special Directions for Shaping Shoes to Cure Different 
Diseases of the Foot, and for the Correction of Faulty Action in 
Trotters. By George E. Rich. 62 Illustrations. 153 pages. 
l2mo. .......... $1.00 





32 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.’S CATALOGUE. 


RICHARDSON.—Practical Blacksmithing: 

A Collection of Articles Contributed at Different Times by Skilled 
Workmen to the columns of “ The Blacksmith and Wheelwright,” 
and Covering nearly the Whole Range of Blacksmithing, from the 
Simplest Job of Work to some of the Most Complex Forgings, 


Compiled and Edited by M. T. Richardson. 

Vol. I. 210 Illustrations. 224 pages. i2mo. . . $1.00 

Vol. II. 230 Illustrations. 262 pages. i2mo. . . $1.00 

Vol. III. 390 Illustrations. 307 pages. i2mo. . . $1.00 

Vol. IV. 226 Illustrations. 276 pages. i2mo. , . $1.00 

RICHARDSON.—The Practical Horseshoer: 


Being a Collection of Articles on Horseshoeing in all its Branche*' 
which have appeared from time to time in the columns of “ 1 he 
Blacksmith and Wheelwright,” etc. Compiled and edited by M. T. 

Richardson. 174 illustrations.#1.00 

ROPER.—Instructions and Suggestions for Engineers and 
Firemen: 

By Stephen Roper, Engineer. i8mo. Morocco . $2.00 

ROPER.—The Steam Boiler: Its Care and Management: 

By Stephen Roper, Engineer. i2mo., tuck, gilt edges. $2.00 
ROPER.—The Young Engineer’s Own Book: 

Containing an Explanation of the Principle and Theories on which 
the Steam Engine as a Prime Mover is Based. By Stephen Roper, 
Engineer. 160 illustrations, 363 pages. i8mo., tuck . $2 50 

ROSE.—Modern Steam-Engines: 

An Elementary Treatise upon the Steam-Engine, written in Plain 
language; for Use in the Workshop as well as in the Drawing Office. 
Giving Full Explanations of the Construction of Modern Steairw 
Engines: Including Diagrams showing their Actual operation. To¬ 
gether with Complete but Simple Explanations of the operations of 
Various Kinds of Valves, Valve Motions, and Link Motions, etc., 
thereby Enabling the Ordinary Engineer to clearly Understand the 
Principles Involved in their Construction and Use, and to Plot out 
their Movements upon the Drawing Board. By Joshua Rose. M. E. 
Illustrated by 422 engravings. Revised. 358 pp. . . $6.00 

ROSE.—Steam Boilers: 

A Practical Treatise on Boiler Construction and Examination, for the 
Use of Practical Boiler Makers. Boiler Users, and Inspectors; and 
embracing m plain figures all the calculations necessary in Designing 
or Classifying Steam Boilers. By Joshua Rose, M. E. Illustrated 

by 73 engravings. 250 pages. 8vo.52.50 

SCHRIBER.—The Complete Carriage and Wagon Painter: 

A Concise Compendium of the Art of Painting Carriages, Wagons, 
and Sleighs, embracing Full Directions in all the Various Branches, 
including Lettering, Scrolling, Ornamenting, Striping, Varnishing, 
and Coloring, with numerous Recipes for Mixing Colors. 73 Illus¬ 
trations. 177 pp. i2mo. . . 51.00 



























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